


The Saints of Atlantis

by Dragonsteamfan



Category: Boondock Saints (1999), Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-05-12
Updated: 2013-07-02
Packaged: 2017-10-09 10:21:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 42
Words: 88,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/86219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonsteamfan/pseuds/Dragonsteamfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is more than one group that wants the Saints of South Boston out of the Hoag Maximum Security Prison.  Most want them for their calling of killing evil men, but one is different.  They want the Saints for their genes, and they've go the pull to get them out.  Too bad Da didn't live long enough to see this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Discovery

Dr. Angela Boswell was back on Earth for the first time in almost two years and visiting the only family member there that she had left. Her cousin Patrick worked at the Hoag Maximum Security Prison as a doctor, just as she worked as a geneticist and trauma doctor for the SGC. Star Gate Command was a black ops military project that used alien technology to explore the Milky Way Galaxy. There had been the sort of trouble that any sci-fi fan could have predicted and the first teams had accidentally started a war. Personally Angela couldn't see any other way it could have gone. The Go'uald were a race of parasites that currently ruled a vast portion of the galaxy. They were evil, and there was no way any decent man or woman could have let them get away with the things they did, including enslaving entire planets and forcing the primitive people of those worlds to worship them as gods.

In the course of the war against the snakes, as they had been nicknamed by the soldiers, evidence had been found of a city created by the 'gate builders – the lost city of Atlantis. The Ancients had sunk Atlantis after a disaster, but not anywhere on Earth. Atlantis was in the Pegasus Galaxy, as was now a group of scientists and military people from every country that was aware of the program. Atlantis was now a military base, run by a civilian diplomat and the purpose of the people there was twofold; to find the technology that would allow Earth's soldiers to defeat the Go'uald once and for all and to defend the Pegasus Galaxy from the disaster that had befallen the Ancients – a predatory, sentient race known as the Wraith.

Wraith ate Humans, or rather they absorbed their life force, killing the Human and rendering the corpse into a withered husk. Angela was one of the medical staff stationed on Atlantis, and she used her background in genetics to work with the ATA gene sequence when she wasn't patching up soldiers. Exploration was dangerous in any galaxy, but it was made all the harder in Pegasus when the technology that would give them an equal or better footing than their enemies could only be used or at least initialized, by those who possessed a certain sequence of genes. Less than one percent of the Earth's population had the ATA gene, although her supervisor Doctor Becket had managed to create a gene therapy that allowed some people to adopt the sequence into their own genetic structures. There were still less than twenty ATA positives on a base that housed nearly three hundred people; military, scientist, and natives alike. Angela's job was to improve the gene therapy to boost those numbers as much as possible.

Of course, Patrick didn't know any of that. He thought that she had been working for a classified project at one of the research stations in Antarctica. "Crap!" he yelled as he looked up from the microscope he kept in his tiny home lab.

"What's wrong?" Angela asked, looking up from her newspaper. She was sitting on the couch in the living room, separated from the lab by a long counter. News was hard to get in Atlantis and she was stocking up as much as she could, or rather she was devouring everything she could get her hands on that she couldn't get in Pegasus, from current events to ice cream.

Patrick shook his head. "There's nothing wrong with these blood samples. It was my last hope for keeping three inmates in the infirmary. If I don't find something they'll be released into the general population at the end of the week." He rubbed his face with his hands, running them up through his hair. "I can't let that happen."

"Why?" Angela asked. "The last time I saw you, you didn't have any sympathy for the idiots who get themselves thrown into the Hoag."

"These guys are different," Patrick said. "Do you remember the vigilantes who killed Poppa Joe Yakavetta just before he could be acquitted for the third time? They killed him right in the courtroom."

Angela nodded. "The Saints of South Boston," she remembered out loud. "How many criminals did they kill before that? The ones that the cops couldn't get off the streets because the system let them walk?"

"Twenty two," Patrick said, proudly. "And they took out another fifty two when Yakavetta's son was stupid enough to try and frame them for the murder of a priest, in a church no less. There were the fifteen Chinese drug dealers that were working with the Yakavetta family shipping heroin. Seventeen died when they went after Concezio Yakavetta himself, and another twenty when they took out his partner, some old guy who was living in a rundown mansion. They were caught walking out of the last scene, and now they're in my infirmary. If they get sent into gen-pop, they're dead."

"Let me take a look," she offered. Angela knew that it was an occupational hazard for her cousin and others who worked in some type of law enforcement to wish to be able to just kill the criminals that they came across in their work. That three men had done so, and had made a public statement that they were killing only those men who were so corrupt that they could not be redeemed, made them heroes in a lot of people's eyes. After dealing with the likes of Kolya and the Genii, as well as the Wraith for the last two years, she was one of them.

Angela got up and pulled Patrick off of his bar stool. The small lab was actually his apartment's kitchen, but she had known for years that he couldn't cook. Then she gave him a shove towards his bedroom. "Go take a shower; it'll do you good to get some heat on those muscles. You're as tense as McKay when the coffee runs out!" As the chief science officer of Atlantis and the scientist member of Atlantis Recon Team 1 lived off of coffee that was saying something. He simply nodded his head and took her advice. He knew there was nothing more that he could do.

Angela waited until Patrick was in his bedroom before digging a small case out of her one piece of luggage. There wasn't a whole lot of room on the Daedalus, the spaceship that made the run between galaxies, but she wasn't the only Earth bound member of the Atlantis base that took a few pieces of Ancient tech with them when they were on leave back on Earth. For most of them the tech wasn't anything that was likely to get them into trouble as long as no one found out about it. There were the life sign detectors, the Ancient version of an ipod, a few items that were simply handy to have around such as a hot plate that did not have to be hooked up to any external source or the hand tablets that were better than any blackberry, but her favorite was her portable medical scanner. She'd always had a fascination with Dr. McCoy's tricorder from Star Trek and her little scanner came darn close to fitting the bill. The only thing it didn't do was make the same noises.

Angela picked up the first blood sample and ran her scanner over it. It hummed quietly to itself before throwing up the results of its standard tests on a digital display. Well, the tests were standard for Atlantis at least. There were a number of viruses and bacteria which indicated a recovering lung injury, but nothing that was immediately dangerous. This patient was well on his way to recovery. He also had the ATA gene as a recessive, which made him a candidate for the gene therapy, but that wasn't a consideration.

She set that sample aside and continued on to the next. There would be time later to do a more in depth scan to see if she could help keep this man from being killed. The second sample took a short time before throwing up something that she had never expected to see. The strength of the ATA gene was measured in percentages. This man's gene sequence read as ninety eight percent. There was only one other person who had a higher known percentage; Colonel Sheppard at ninety nine percent. Most of the other ATA positives in Atlantis ran in the high eighties. "Please Lord, let this be one of the young guys," Angela prayed as she checked the other tests. She felt a little bad praying that the sample that came from the lung shot man was the old man of the three Saints, but such a high ATA percentage was like finding a diamond in a pig sty. It just didn't happen. There was nothing there to indicate any sort of sickness or indeed, anything that would prevent him from coming to Atlantis on a purely medical stand point.

The third blood sample was amazingly like the second. In fact, the ATA percentage was the same and one of the other tests came back showing a familial match between the two men. Angela took a deep breath and grabbed her cell phone out of her pocket. This was very likely to be these men's only hope of survival, even if it meant throwing them into a more dangerous situation than life here in Boston was for them. "This is Doctor Boswell. Get me General O'Neill," she said quickly.

After listening to Angela's story O'Neill tried to make sense out of what she wanted him to do. "These guys are killers and you want me to get them out of jail and send them to Atlantis?"

"Sir," Angela sighed. "South Boston is one of the places you could call one step up from a war zone. It's not as bad as the projects in New York, but not far from it. The judges and lawyers are so liberal here that they practically hand the criminals get out of jail free cards at every opportunity. I know that this system isn't perfect and it's the best one we've got, but these three men stood up and started cleaning up the streets around here when no one else could or would. They've never harmed an innocent person. In fact, before my brother was killed in the line of duty, he told me that they went out of their way to make sure that a child was well away from home before they killed his father, a mafia hit man, and two women who were at their hits were unharmed; shaken up but not injured. Not only do they only kill criminals, but they've publicly stated that they only go after those who are so corrupted that they give the snakes competition for who's the bigger evil."

"And they've kept to this pledge of theirs?" O'Neill asked skeptically.  
"It's been eight years sir since they made it. I don't know how many hits they did after they killed Poppa Joe in court before he could walk on seventeen murder charges, but I do know that their known kill count in Boston is seventy four, not a single one of whom was an innocent."

"Seventeen?" O'Neill asked, stunned. "Just how sure are you that this guy was gonna walk?"

Angela nodded grimly, although she knew the general couldn't see her. "Very sir. It was his third indictment in two years. No matter how much evidence the cops brought to the court's attention, he just kept walking out a free man. From what was being reported the third time wasn't going to be any different. The man was making jokes in court for the Lord's sake!"

"And all seventy four of their kills were people like that?"

"Yes sir, career criminals," Angela said. She looked over her shoulder as the sounds of Patrick's shower ceased. "Most people agree that they're good men sir."

"Do you know if they've been convicted yet? Any deals made?" O'Neill asked. He was someone who truly understood that sometimes a man did what he had to do, regardless of his orders or what the law said about the matter. Jack had a lot of respect for men who stood up and tried to do the right thing, even if he didn't personally agree with the way they went about doing it. At least they tried. He had known far too many people who gave up at the first sign of difficulty, or used the misfortunes of others to help only themselves.

Angela glanced at Patrick's bedroom door. He still hadn't come out yet. "I don't know sir, but they are currently in the infirmary of Hoag Maximum Security Prison here in Boston. They're scheduled to be moved into the general population at the end of the week. Sir, if they're still in prison by then, they're dead."

O'Neill winced, he knew what Doctor Boswell was saying, and what she wasn't. The minute that any of the criminals in the prison had access to these men they would be attacked and those attacks would continue until all three men were dead, no matter how long it took. Atlantis also simply could not afford to lose any ATA positives of any decent strength. "I'll see what I can do doctor," he promised, and hung up the phone.


	2. Meeting the Saints

General 'Jack' O'Neill had spent more than his fair share of time on the front lines, both on Earth and in the war against the Go'uald. As a result, he was more than a little familiar with prisons, although he hadn't ended up in any prison infirmaries that he could remember. He was all too familiar with the one on base though. There wasn't much to the Hoag infirmary, just three beds, a guard who was way too relaxed, heck he didn't even have his finger on the trigger guard of his weapon and was leaning against the wall, and some basic medical equipment. The three men he was here to see were looking out the window with their backs to him.

"Yakavetta's people aren't the only ones not happy with us man," one said to the other two. O'Neill had been given a very thin file on these men, but seeing them in the flesh made a few assumptions easy to make. The dusky skin and long black hair of the shorter man who had spoken pointed towards him being Romeo, no last name known, and the one who had been shot in the lung. He was the ATA recessive. The other two were the ones who were ATA positive. The file had their names listed as Conner and Murphy McManus, brothers, both shot in the right shoulder, and the leg and side respectively.

"They're shaking in their fucking boots," the darker haired brother said. He had a strong Irish accent, something O'Neill hadn't expected, although the multiple tattoos had been mentioned in the file.

"Oh please," the other brother gave the one who had spoken a gentle push. "You remember what Da said. Most likely they think we're easy targets without our guns and killing us would make them famous, just like that fuckin' Panza." His accent was just as strong; strong enough that they probably had grown up in Ireland rather than in the States like O'Neill had thought.

"Fucking little shit head," Romeo growled. "Wish I'd been there when your old man took him out."

"Da always did like grand entrances," came from the darker haired brother. "That's where Conner here gets it from."

Conner McManus laughingly agreed before pointing out the window. "Murph, look at that one."

Murphy peered in the direction Conner was pointing and smirked. "Yeah, that fucking ass looks like he needs a little divine retribution. Too bad we can't ask the boys to give us our guns back."

"We can't make the lads' jobs any harder than they already are," Conner said.

"I know," Murphy agreed. "It's just that he's just standing there, and rapists are the worst sort of scum. They don't fucking deserve to live."

"Hey Joe, he get it right this time?" Romeo asked, turning to the guard. He started when he saw the Air Force General standing there.

"Why do you even bother asking Romeo?" the guard asked in return. "I gave up second guessing them the first week you guys were here. They've called each and every single one of the crimes these apes are in for right every time."

"It passes the time," Conner quipped.

"Hey guys," Romeo nodded at O'Neill when they turned to look at him. Both men pivoted to face him fully.

"I'm General Jack O'Neill, and personally I prefer slow castration for rapists," Jack said as he entered the room. "I'm here gentlemen, to offer you an alternative to being locked up in here for the most likely very short remainder of your lives." Jack shrugged. "I know, it's a lame line, but you've got to admit it's a classic for these sorts of things."

"Aye," the brothers agreed, smirks firmly in place. Romeo just snorted. "So what's it to be, a suicide mission to assassinate some power hungry thug claiming to be a world leader?" Conner asked airily.

"Or perhaps you want us to take out a group of terrorists all by ourselves so when we screw it up your hands are clean?" Murphy continued. Both McManus brothers were fond of action movies and those were the plot lines that happened most often in some of their favorite films. Of course in the movies the hero always turned around and kicked the ass of the guy who hired him, but this was real life and it would be a good idea to hear what the man had to say. They could see that he was a good man, and it wasn't likely that he'd be having them do something that was evil.

"Actually I'm offering five years community service at a research base in the middle of a war zone," Jack said as he sat down on one of the infirmary beds. "And not the sort of community service you've been doing here. I've got plenty of guys who can do that. What I can't get are people who can do this." With that, Jack pulled out a small, round piece of Ancient tech. Personally Jack thought it was a baby's night light, but several scientists had other ideas. He made certain he wasn't thinking at it. He didn't want to ruin the demonstration. Then he tossed it at Murphy.

Murphy caught the ball and it lit up in his hands. "Pass it around," Jack instructed. Murphy shrugged and passed it to his brother. The light show that the ball produced changed for Conner, although Jack was intrigued to see that it was complimentary to Murphy's. He had never seen that before. When Conner passed it to Romeo, the light show ended. "Less than one percent of the world's population has the unique genetics required to make this sort of tech work. We are talking a very, very small number of people. I want the three of you to go to the research base and take up light switch duty as well as anything else the base commander tells you to do. He's a good guy, puts his men and his charges' safety first. As I've said, the base is in the middle of a war zone, so you might be asked to help defend the base. I just want you to be aware that it's a possibility." Jack waited for the men to start asking questions.

"I can't make this work," Romeo pointed out as he passed the ball back to the brothers. The moment Conner took the ball back it began its light show again.

"You have the gene, but it's recessive. That makes you a good candidate for the gene therapy that's being developed," Jack answered.

Romeo and Murphy both leaned in towards Conner who was in the middle. "Wars produce an awful lot of asshats," Romeo pointed out.

"Rapists, slavers," Murphy said thoughtfully.

"Torturers, genocidal murderers," came from Conner. "They operate out in the open too. It'd be a lot easier to find and get at them."

"Have you guys ever had a chance to go after slavers?" Romeo wanted to know. The rest he knew could be found in any major city, but slavers had to be unique. O'Neill realized that the brothers must have picked up Romeo recently, perhaps in an effort to get the older man they had worked with before to retire. Seeing as how the guy had ended up dead in their last hit, Jack had to say it had probably been a good idea, even if it hadn't worked.

"Chicago, seven years ago," Murphy said with a disgusted look on his face. "Pervert kidnapped children to make sex slaves out of them for pedophiles. Da took care of the buyer we found, did him special."

"How special?" O'Neill wanted to know.

Conner was the one to explain. "When we take out an evil man, we do it as fast and as painless as possible; shot through the heart, between the eyes, that sort of thing. It isn't our place to make them suffer. Their punishment is in God's hands. Chicago though, our Da taught us how to make their deaths as painful as possible in the short amount of time we have to make certain that they're dead. We do our best to get in and out quick, but some men deserve a more painful death."

Jack nodded. "Well I can't promise you slavers, but I do know that there is an abundance of genocidal murderers in the area."

"You don't mind what we do then?" Murphy asked.

"Actually the only problem I have with it is the chance you guys take at killing an innocent person. I know that your reputation and the crime scenes that the cops have found have all said that no one was hurt that shouldn't have been, but still it's a terrible risk you take. What if one of the people at one of your hits is an undercover cop?" Jack asked.

"No problem," Romeo said, bragging about his friends. "My boys here got a gift. They can just look at a guy and not only tell if they're bad guys or not, but what they did too. They've been making a game out of it here, and they haven't lost once."

"A gift," Jack repeated. He leaned back thoughtfully. These two had a higher ATA percentage than even he had, and he knew that there were some things that came along with a percentage over ninety. Both he and Colonel Sheppard had highly developed intuition, something that gave them an edge in dangerous situations. It wasn't all that hard to believe that the McManus brothers had something similar. "Ok, what is your decision? Are you going to take my offer?"

The three men huddled together. "Mysterious ways," Conner muttered. This had to be the hand of the Lord making sure that they would be able to continue to serve Him.

"Aye," Murphy agreed. "We've got a much better chance to be doing some good in the world if we take him up on this."

"Five years of community service beats twenty five to life any day," was Romeo's opinion. Murphy rolled his eyes. That went without saying.

"Can you make sure we stay together?" Conner asked. "Me brother and I are a bit phobic about being separated." That was an understatement, but the general didn't need to know that.

Jack looked bewildered. "That's an odd phobia to have."

Murphy shrugged. "We're twins, and Ma wouldn't let anyone separate us as kids. I almost died when we were born, and she's still convinced that Conner's the only reason I lived."

"Aye, the docs said there weren't nothing more they could do for him, so Ma insisted that I be put in with Murphy to say goodbye. In just a few minutes Murphy was better than he'd ever been. Ma refused to let us be separated after that. She threw such a fit years later when we started school that we got a little paranoid about it," Conner explained.

"I don't see any reason why you should be," Jack shrugged. "I'll make a note though. That does explain the matching tattoos, but outta sheer curiosity I gotta ask, why are the crosses and words on opposite arms, and why Latin?"

The twins grinned. "I'm a lefty, Murphy's not," was the simple explanation. "As for the Latin, we're good Irish Catholic boys General. We learned Latin right along with Gaelic and English," Conner said. "I'm truth, Murphy's justice. One is nothing without the other."

"So when do we leave?" Murphy asked, not wanting to seem sappy.

"As soon as your doctor clears you," Jack said. "So, who's older?" The twins about fell over laughing.


	3. The Daedalus

Major Evan Lorne had no idea why General O'Neill wanted to send three convicts to Atlantis, or why he was standing there apologizing to the two white guys who were glowering at him. "I'm sorry, but the jumpsuits are standard procedure for transport. Until I could get you three here you were still under the authority of the federal penal system." Here was Area 53, where the Daedalus' crew was officially stationed, where people and cargo were loaded onto the spaceship, and where anything in general to do with the Daedalus and her sister ships took place. As for the jumpsuits that the general was referring to, day glow orange wasn't Lorne's favorite color either, but no one could have mistaken them for anything other than criminals being transported between the clothes and the shackles.

"I'd rather be wearing piss yellow or pink for fuck's sake!" the darker one growled. "I don't mind the shackles, but fucking orange!"

It was his accent that tipped Lorne off to the reason the two men were upset. As second in command of the military of Atlantis, Lorne was well used to hearing accents from all over Earth, and a few beyond. These two had to be from Ireland, and from how upset they were, Catholic. Even though the war between the Orange and the Green had been over for centuries; feelings still ran strong on the subject. "You'll make sure that the people on the list we gave you know what happened?" the other demanded as he held out his hands to be reshackled after changing into a set of the plain blue uniforms that were standard casual wear for those who worked for the SGC.

"No, you won't need the shackles from here on out. Yes, I'll do it personally. I'm going to see Detectives Dolly and Duffy in Boston the day after tomorrow; stop in at McGinty's that night and your family in Ireland on Friday. It gets me out from behind my desk," O'Neill explained. "Major!" he called.

"Yes sir!" Lorne snapped to attention and saluted.

O'Neill waved him down. "Take these three up to the Daedalus and get them settled in for the trip to Atlantis. Tell Sheppard that these two," he motioned to the two Irish guys, "are on light switch duty. Their gene is almost as strong as his. They know Latin so once they've learned Ancient they can work on translating the database. Oh, and before I forget, don't separate them unless it is absolutely necessary. Romeo has the gene recessively so he'll be getting the gene treatment from Beckett once you get to Atlantis. All three of them are good shots and their specialty is assassinating career criminals. Good luck."

"Yes sir," Lorne saluted again and motioned for the three men to follow him. The general hadn't had any guards on the men so Lorne didn't bother to call any over. "My name is Evan Lorne. I'm the second in command of the Atlantis military. I'm also one of the sixteen ATA positives we have on base. It is the duty of every ATA positive, either natural or therapy, to learn to fly the puddlejumpers and to play light switch for the scientists on base. There aren't enough of us to go around so you'll have to make some pretty strict rules about what you'll put up with and what you won't. The scientists will try to bulldoze you into spending every second of every day trying to turn stuff on for them. Generally speaking I let them have two hours a day unless I'm off world or there's an emergency."

"Conner and Murphy McManus," Conner introduced himself and his brother.

"Brothers?" Lorne asked.

"Twins," they chorused. "Fraternal and you already know Romeo's name," Murphy nodded at their friend.

Lorne stopped and motioned them closer to him. "Daedalus, the last of our new recruits are here. Ready to come aboard," Lorne said as he tapped the small radio in his ear.

The three Saints looked at Lorne a bit warily. Then they were all surrounded by a flash of white light. "What the fuck!" Romeo cried when the light vanished.

"Holy Shit!" came from the twins.

Lorne sighed. "I take it no one explained that the Daedalus is a spaceship capable of traveling to other galaxies, or anything else about the Stargate program?" The three men just shook their heads. "There probably wasn't time; we ship out in less than two hours."

"Spaceship?" Murphy questioned. Then he looked over at his brother. "That tech, it must be alien, but why would we have the genes to turn it on?"

"It's not so much alien as Ancient," Lorne explained. "The Ancients built the stargates, a system that uses controlled wormholes to make simple travel between planets possible. Dial up the address of a new planet, wait for the wormhole to form and then just walk through it. They were the first Human race on planet Earth. All of us who have the gene are descended from at least one Ancient, and before you ask about the gene therapy, so far it only works on people who have the gene recessively." Lorne paused at a porthole and let the men look down at Earth. "We've been exploring the Milky Way for the last ten years now. We've made friends and enemies. I'll make sure you get a history to read while we're in transit to Atlantis."

"Did you just name the place that or are we talking about the one the myth talks about?" Conner asked, a worried look on his face.

"The myth," Lorne said. He motioned for them to follow him further into the ship. "The Ancients had a population problem as they grew more advanced. By the time they built Atlantis their entire population fit into a city the size of Manhattan. So they built a spaceship in the shape of a city. Eventually they did sink her, but like I said I'll get you the history to read. The thing you need to know right now is that Atlantis is in the Pegasus galaxy and it'll take us three weeks to get there."

"Aw fuck!" the twins cursed.

"What?" Romeo wanted to know.

"It's a fuckin' spaceship Rome. You can't smoke on a spaceship," Conner pointed out. Romeo groaned as he realized he wouldn't be able to get a drink either. Sailors wouldn't share their booze with anyone but friends and he knew they wouldn't count. Three very depressed men followed Lorne as he gave them a short tour of the places on the ship they would have access to; the mess, the infirmary, the exercise deck.

They were in the infirmary getting the necessary medical checks done when they ran into the only alien crewmember of the Daedalus, the Asgard Engineer Hermiod. "What the fuck? It's naked!" Murphy said as Hermoid crossed the room.

"It's a fucking Roswell grey," Romeo pointed out. "Wow, I didn't think they were real."

The twins ignored their friend. Once they'd gotten a good look at it the fact that the grey alien was naked became just a blip on their weird meter; the type of alien that it was less than that. What bothered them was the fact that they could see that it was marked just like a Human was. A quick glance at each other, and they both slipped off of the medical beds and circled the alien. "Is there something you wish Human?" it asked. The almost inaudible sigh and put upon tone was ignored.

Murphy and Conner carefully looked over the marks that only they could see. "You have my condolences friend," Murphy said with a grin and a slap on the almost nonexistent shoulder when he was done. "If it's any help you're not the first to make that mistake and you won't be the last."

"Aye, happens all the time," Conner sniggered. Hermiod shook his head and continued on his way, muttering to himself about the childishness of the Human race. "Got a little bit of the Irish in him, don't he?" he asked Murphy. That set his twin off laughing so hard one of the medical crew members had to pick him up off the floor.

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The cabin they were assigned to was as small as a priest's cell, only a priest usually had one all to himself. All three of them had to share this one. There were two bunks built into one wall, two drawers under the bunk, and a small sanitation unit in the opposite wall. "Three weeks stuck in this place, no booze, no alcohol, not even a good rumble," Romeo bitched. He had claimed the top bunk he was sitting on, saying that since the other two men were twins, something that he hadn't known before, they could share the lower.

Murphy shrugged. "We usually do sleep in the same bed at home," he informed Romeo. "It's just that there, we've got something a lot cuddlier to snuggle with."

"Are you comparing Gretchen to a teddy bear?" Conner was sitting on the deck, looking in one of the drawers. "She'll beat you to death if she ever hears you say that." He pulled out several black bags. "This looks like Da's. I wonder how they got it?"

"Probably an anonymous tip or something along those lines," Murphy speculated. "I hope the lads weren't caught." It was bad enough that Panza had killed Detective Greenly. Dolly and Duffy didn't need to be in trouble too. He knelt down to inspect the other drawer. In this one he found the things that had been taken from them at the Hoag. He also found his father's things. "Conner," he said, and showed his brother the black leather vest that had been their father's version of a holster. There were spots for six guns down the front. Noah McManus had been as fast and deadly with his six guns as his sons were with their four in spite of the fact that his boys carried more ammunition in theirs.

"The guns are here too. No ammo though," Murphy said as he rummaged around. "AH!" with an exclamation of excitement he pulled out their rosaries. He handed his brother his and they both slipped them around their necks. Although they hadn't worn them while they were hiding in Ireland, not having them hadn't felt right.

"Hey, here's the tat kit!" Conner said, pulling out the bundle.

"Well, we'll have something to work on then besides those reports," Murphy said.

"Fuck," Romeo said in wonder. "We're on a Human built spaceship going to another galaxy. How wacked out is that?"

Conner looked up from his inspection of the drawer in front of him. "I think its stranger that we've all got an alien ancestor. Don't give me no crap," he waved his finger at his brother, "I know what Lorne said. The Ancients were Human, but when I think of Human I think of us, not some advanced spaceship, wormhole building fellas who couldn't get their dicks up."

"Aye," Murphy agreed with a laugh. Romeo just grinned, still stunned over their new environment. "You know, I wonder what else is out there. General O'Neill did say that there were a lot of genocidal murderers where we're going." He handed Romeo his holster and guns. Usually the sight of the colorful weapons were enough to bring a grin to his face, but the prospect of facing unknown killers had him concerned.

"God moves in mysterious ways," Conner reminded his brother. "It could be that these people need to face the Saints."

Murphy nodded. The twins took their nickname a lot more seriously than anyone outside of their family could ever know. "Do you think anyone else will get the call?"

Conner pondered a moment. "Could be, we're the youngest of all the cousins after all. Some of the next generation are old enough." With that, he passed out the cleaning kits. He doubted anyone else would have cleaned their guns, and even if they did, sitting around in a box somewhere couldn't have done them any good.


	4. Notifications

"IF YOU CAN'T TAKE IT, DON'T DISH IT OUT!" O'Neill paused at the door to the detective's squad room. Two shorter men were glaring up at a larger one, all three wearing the cheap suits that identified them as detectives. "Get over it. Eunice is a better investigator than you'll ever be. That's why she was Smecker's protégée! You bullied your way into the investigation and took her off of it; the case that her mentor spent the last years of his life trying to solve. Then you called her names. She just dished your insult back at you and then you suspended her! Of course she's not going to let you tell her she can't work the case. Then when she figured out where the boys were headed, she went in and got the address. So you took her find and chased her out of the damned country! She's hiding in a damned nunnery or something because you're an ass!"

"You sound way too friendly with these killers Detective Duffy," the taller man snarled.

"Of course I am you idiot! I met them the first time they killed a couple of Russian mobsters. Hell, the entire precinct met them. They're great guys, just a little psycho on the subject of evil men, which we didn't talk about! It's not our fault they never mentioned their dad was a hit man!" Detective Duffy was waving his arms around like the only thing keeping him from taking the other man's head off was his badge.

"Or that they were thinking about taking up the family business," the other detective said. "Hell, no one knew who Il Duce was. No one ever succeeded in getting him to talk, not even to tell them his given name, not once in twenty four years. He's one of the most famous hit men in the history of the East Coast; and yet we're supposed to magically know that the two guys who killed two mob peons in self defense are his kids?" From the amused looks on the faces of the cops around the room, Duffy and his friend were way ahead on points.

"They're psychotic killers!"

"Actually, they're vigilantes," O'Neill interrupted. "Just because they decided to take the law into their own hands does not mean they have mental problems. It just means they're pissed off." He walked over to Duffy. "Detective Duffy, I have a message for you and a Detective Dolly from the McManus brothers. They and their friend Romeo accepted a deal and they are now doing five years community service at a military base. I have an address here where you can send letters or care packages and an email address for them as well." He handed over the information.

"Hell, we'd better tell Doc," the other detective said, peering over Duffy's shoulder. "By the way, I'm Dolly, don't ask - the rest of these guys can't pronounce my name."

"The owner of McGinty's? That's my next stop," O'Neill pulled out another letter.

"We'll take you down there," Duffy offered. "Oh, and by the way the boys might not have mentioned it, but Doc's got touretts. Just ignore the swearing and the shakes, he's a sweet old man and he can't help it."

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It was a week later in the mess hall that Conner and Murphy figured out that they would have work to do while they were on board the Daedalus. "Rome, on the left, second table from the wall, third from the right," Murphy said quietly.

Romeo went on the alert, his eyes seeking out the man Murphy was pointing out to him, while doing his best to look as though nothing was going on. "Brunet or blond?" Romeo asked quietly.

"Brunet," came from Conner as he leaned over to get the maple syrup in front of his brother.

"What do we got?"

"Murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, setting illegal explosives and treason," Murphy answered.

"It sounds like you two are talking about the NID," Lorne said quietly. "I know you've read the reports on them, but how would you know if one of their people was on board?" The three Saints were sitting across the table from him and he had heard every word, although he was experienced enough not to broadcast his unease or his puzzlement.

"Don't know if he's NID or not, but that's what the man's done," Conner said.

"They always know what a guy's done," Romeo told Lorne. "It's fucking scary sometimes."

"It's the good Lord's blessing," Conner said, coming a little too close to the truth for Murphy's comfort. The small glare he sent his brother was met with an equally apologetic glance. Rocco was the only one outside of their family that the twins had told about their being called by God to destroy evil so good may flourish. Not only was their calling too dear to their faith to be ridiculed, they had no wish to look like crazy men. Even Roc, their best friend before his death at their side, had initially asked if they didn't think it was a little psycho or weird. "We'll just keep an eye on him for now."

"Aye," Murphy agreed. "Did Colonel Sheppard really turn into a bug?" he asked, changing the subject. Idly he began chewing on his fingernails.

Lorne nodded. "He's got a real phobia about bugs now. Personally I don't blame him one bit. Fortunately there aren't any bugs on Atlantis. We're too far away from the mainland for any to reach the city."

"Small favors," Conner said.

"What I have a hard time believing is the report about when that lady Marine got stuck inside the scientist's mind," Romeo said.

Lorne nodded. "I was so glad I didn't have to hold McKay's hand through that. The whole thing really freaked me out."

"How long have you been stationed in the city?" Murphy asked.

"Almost a year now," Lorne said. "I was transferred to Atlantis after the powers that be decided Colonel Sheppard should keep command."

Conner shook his head. "I can't imagine what it was like for them the first year. I've read the reports but fuck; space vampires, hurricanes three times as big as anything on Earth, probable starvation, invasion by wanna be Nazis."

"I want Kolya," Murphy said. He was fidgeting again, drawing little pictures of evil men and aliens on the table with his butter knife.

"What do you mean?" Lorne asked, confused. Why would anyone actually want that insane zealot?

Conner snatched the butter knife away from his brother. "Quit, we've only got two more weeks to go. We've got someone to keep an eye on, we're still working on Rome's new tats and we haven't mastered Ancient yet. We've got lots to keep busy with. Figure out a way to take our new friend out without compromising anything and without ammo." He turned to Lorne. "We want to kill him of course. Evil man; dead man."

"Destroy that which is evil, so that which is good may flourish," Murphy recited. "The Genii are in trouble. They don't know it yet, but they are and men like Kolya are the reason they can't get help. He's as bad as any of the drug pushers, murderers, and rapists we've taken out, more so than most actually. Execution is the only thing that you can do with someone like that." He turned back to Conner. "Plans are your thing. I just want to put a bullet in the fucker's brain."

"We don't have bullets, and besides you always bitch about my plans, so come up with one of your own!" Conner said, becoming just as frustrated and twitchy as his brother. He was dealing with going cold turkey better than Murphy, but only just. It would be his brother that reminded him he couldn't smoke, if only because he couldn't give Murphy a cigarette to help calm him down.

"Hey, chill out guys. The last thing we want is to end up in the brig, right?" Romeo pointed out. Murphy glared and burst up from the table, storming back to their cabin. "He's gonna go and pray again, ain't he?"

"You got something against praying Rome?" Conner asked. He was trying to hold on to his temper, but he felt that was out of line.

"Nah, but the two of you pray more than any priest I've ever met, especially since we've been locked in this tin can for the last week," Romeo explained. The last thing he wanted was for the brothers to be pissed off at him. There were only so many places to hide on this ship until they calmed down.

Conner relaxed. It was true; they had spent more time praying in the last week than they ever had before. When they'd been locked up in the infirmary they'd been in too much pain to think about much beyond recovering. Now that they were healthy being cooped up in this ship wasn't easy. "When you're a McManus there's two things that you learn to do before you can walk; fight and pray. We can't fight, not even with each other, so prayers it is."

 

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"Mrs. Annabelle McManus?" O'Neill asked, standing at the bar of the pub called The Anvil. The small Irish village was deep in the heart of sheep country, and if half of these people weren't related to the other half, he'd kiss a snake; or at least their host.

"Which one of my little pissants is dead," the short, elderly woman behind the bar asked. Her face and figure reflected the image of an Irish grandma, with red hair, blue eyes and being as wide as she was tall. Her language, glass of booze and cigarette were the exact opposite.

O'Neill wasn't taken in by either stereotype. He could see the apprehension in Annabelle's eyes and just how tightly she was grasping her drink. "Your husband, ma'am. Your sons are alive."

"Fucking hell, I told Noah he should have left that asshole to the boys. They can take a few bullet holes and walk away. Bastard probably knew they were coming. Louie always had to be the genius behind the scenes, manipulating everything around him. Son of a bitch threatened our boys to keep my Noah quiet. May the cat eat him and the devil eat the cat." Murmurs of agreement came from nearly every corner of the bar. She chugged her drink before taking a deep breath. "Ok, what about my boys?"

"They were caught at the scene. They took a deal; five years community service at a military base…"

"Don't think I'm fucking stupid," Annabelle interrupted. "My boys aren't what you'd call military material. What do you want them for?"

"Ma'am, as long as my boss buys it, who cares? This gets them out of the prison and away from the other prisoners who wanted to kill them. The people they'll be working with are more likely to ask your sons to go hunting slavers with them than to condemn them for taking the law into their own hands."

Annabelle smirked and turned to a young woman with long black hair sitting at the bar. O'Neill didn't understand what she said, but he knew the language was Gaelic and the relief on the young lady's face spoke for itself.   
Annabelle turned back to O'Neill. "My daughter-in-law," she said, jerking her head at the girl. "She doesn't speak English, just German and Gaelic."

"Then you'll probably need to read this letter to her," O'Neill said as he handed over his last letter from the McManus twins.

"Humf, telling me where to write huh? Well, I suppose they'll want to know they're gonna be Da's again." Annabelle shook her head as she took the letter.


	5. The Hit

The mess hall was the place that Conner, Murphy and Romeo were allowed to go with the best light. Between that and the furniture, it was the place they chose to work on their tattoos. In addition to the Celtic crosses on Conner and Murphy's forearms and Latin words on their trigger fingers, they also had the Virgin Mary on their necks, and a split scene of Jesus being crucified on their backs. Conner had Jesus from the waist up and Murphy had him from the knees down. Murphy also had the name of a deceased childhood friend above his heart and an angel and a devil battling on his back. Romeo had two faces above his heart and a Laraza design that covered most of his shoulders and spine.

Neither of the brothers had realized that their hobby would attract so much attention from the scientist recruits headed for Atlantis. The soldiers they had expected would be interested, but the geeks were another story. They were finding out that the scientists of the SGC were unlike any on Earth, or anywhere else in the universe it seemed. All of them participated in the self-defense exercises with the Marines, and although they often held conversations about subjects that had all three men completely clueless, those who hung around watching the tattoo work were friendly and never talked down to the Saints, especially once some of them learned that Conner and Murphy were fluent in their native language.

Conner was working on Murphy's back when they saw the captain of the ship for the first time. They had heard of Colonel Caldwell of course, but they hadn't seen him in person in the week they'd been on board. The stern man came up to watch Conner work, but both brothers were staring intently at him. "If any of my people want you to work on them, keep it within uniform code ok?"

"Aye," the twins answered. Their stillness and lack of teasing tipped Romeo off to the fact that something was wrong. He had been keeping an eye on their target for the last two days with Major Lorne's help, but if the Colonel was going to be a target, things were really going to go to shit. Without another word the Colonel left and Conner got back to work.

Back in their cabin hours later Romeo confronted the twins. "Alright what was that all about, because if you want to hit the guy in charge around here, I think they call that mutiny."

The boys looked at each other, remembering the marks that they had seen around the Colonel. They had never seen marks like that. It was almost as though there were two people inside the same body. "Could he have that split personality stuff?" Murphy asked hesitantly. He didn't think so, but he wasn't sure what else could have caused the layered marks, one group of which was that of a good man, and the other, which showed an evil so great that just glimpsing it was sure to haunt his nightmares for years to come.

"Nah," Conner said, pulling out his holsters. He knew that they didn't have any ammunition for their Desert Eagles, but he felt a lot more comfortable with two of his guns under his arms and the other two strapped to his thighs. "Do you remember the little grey guy? The one who went and got himself drunk and ended up here as a punishment?"

"Yeah," Murphy said as he pulled on his own holsters. He fit his knifes into their sheaths. "Wait a minute, you don't think?"

Conner nodded. "Aye, he's been taken over by some evil shite."

"You mean like one of those alien snake things?" Romeo asked. The twins nodded and shuddered in unison. "Can we get it out of him?"

Conner sat down on the bottom bunk. "They won't believe us. Major Lorne is only going along with watching that other asshole out of boredom and the off chance we're right."

"We don't have any ammo. The only functional weapons we've got are my knives," Murphy paced around, chewing on his finger. "And what could we do even if we had any? We'd just end up killing a good man." Romeo and Conner just stared into space. It was the first time they'd ever been put in this sort of situation.

 

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In the end they'd come up with a plan, one that was cobbled together from the reports they had read, what they had to work with, and hours of prayers. Even Conner couldn't come up with a movie plot to help them out with this one, and Murphy had thought that his brother had one for every occasion. They waited three days until their two targets were in a position where they could be both taken.

Once more the twins were in the mess hall, having staked it out to find out when Caldwell ate his meals. Dressed for a hit, although no one aboard the Daedalus would realize this, in their black turtle necks, jeans, and upper holsters under their P coats, Murphy and Conner walked by the Colonel's table as though they were headed to get something to eat. As they passed him, each brother grabbed him with both hands and threw him to the floor.

Before anyone else could do more than jump up and yell, Conner had a knife to Caldwell's throat and Murphy had one at the back of his neck, the tip just touching the base of his skull. Everyone around them froze, unable to see a way to get the brothers away from the Colonel without them killing him. "I still say we should just rip it right out," Conner said, peering intently at the back of Caldwell's neck.

"Nah," Murphy argued. "We should cut it out a little bit at a time. If we rip it out the ends get all jagged and don't go back together."

"Yeah, but then everything else turns to soup," Conner said with a disgusted look on his face. "What's left after that is just a stringy, gloppy mess. I want something we can pose later."

While the two continued to argue the pros and cons of surgically removing something verses just ripping it out of a human body, Romeo snuck out from where he had been watching at the other end of the room and went after their other target. He actually had the easier task. No one actually paid much attention to the sergeant, and he was easy to catch alone.

"Oooh look Conn, it wiggled," Murphy interrupted his brother's tirade about the nonexistent trophies that he had supposedly ruined with his pickiness. They were ignoring Caldwell's protests and yelled orders for the Marines to kill the brothers. They knew the Marines had surrounded them, but if their plan worked it wouldn't matter. Murphy traced what he thought might have been the snake's appendage, which had moved just slightly. If he hadn't been glued to every shift of the man's neck he never would have seen it.

Both twins were far too close not to notice that Murphy's remark had caused Caldwell to stiffen up. Conner glanced around the room, noticing with relief that Romeo had the sergeant by the door, tied up with Conner's rope. It was time for him to give up the fake argument with Murphy; which was a good thing, because he was running out of things to say. "Alright, alright go ahead and use your knife you picky bastard."

Murphy laughed. "Good, I knew you'd see it my way. Now hold him still." Murphy began cutting into Caldwell's neck, not deep enough to cause a serious injury, but enough to make everyone believe that he actually was going to dissect the Colonel alive. Caldwell gave a lurch in their grasp and seemed to vomit up a large amount of blood and a long, slinky thing.

This was what they had been waiting for. Instantly Conner and Murphy dropped Caldwell and grabbed onto the alien snake with both hands. "Get him to the docs!" Conner yelled as the snake twisted in their hands trying to escape.   
Murphy could see that the Marines' guns, which just a moment ago had been trained on them, were now aimed directly at the creature in their hands. "Fuck me, I didn't think it would work. I can't believe we actually scared the fucking thing out of him."

"Aye, makes you wonder if the snakes Saint Patrick drove out of Ireland was this sort, doesn't it?" Conner grinned at the success of their plan. "Rome! Bring that other bastard over here!" he called.

Major Haskel, Caldwell's second in command came up to the brothers, although he stayed well out of the reach of the snake. "How did you know?"

"We know evil when we see it," Murphy said, rather than truly explaining. Romeo dragged his prisoner over to the opposite end of the circle of Marines. "Well now Rome, you did a fine job of tying that bastard up."

"What did he do?" Haskel asked.

"That's the bastard that was working for this thing," Conner spat. He looked up at the Major. "I'm sure you'll find lots of evidence once you go looking for it; but know this, if you don't deal with the shite, we will."

With that the twins began their family prayer:

And shepherds we shall be  
For Thee, my Lord, for Thee  
Power hath descended forth from Thy hand  
That our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command  
So we shall flow a river forth unto Thee  
And teeming with souls shall it ever be  
In Nomini Patri, et Fili, et Spiritu Sancti

Just as they finished, they tore the snake apart.

 

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"We're getting vigilantes? Why do we need vigilantes?" Colonel John Sheppard muttered as he looked over the report he'd just received from the SGC and General O'Neill.

"Something must be unusual about them sir," Lt. Cadman said from where she was counting the supply of explosives.   
Sheppard readily admitted that he hated the paperwork that came with being the CO of a military base. He'd much rather be flying, going on missions or bugging McKay in the labs than do paperwork. That didn't mean he didn't do it. He just worked on it where ever he happened to be rather than get trapped in his office. Actually it was more like Lorne's office; he tended to avoid it as much as possible.

At the moment, he and Cadman were doing inventory in preparation for the arrival of the Daedalus with new Marines, scientists and supplies. "Ah, here it is. Two of them are brothers and they've both got the gene almost as strong as I do. From their skill list, it looks like they'll be spending most of their time working for Elizabeth on the database translation project. Hopefully she'll be able to keep them in line."

"Sir, are you saying that we're getting The Saints of South Boston?" Cadman straightened up and spun around.  
"Uh, what?" Sheppard asked, confused as to Cadman's abrupt change.

"Sir, The Saints are probably the best known vigilantes in the last decade. They went after both the Russian mob and the Italian mafia in South Boston eight years ago. They decimated the Yakavetta crime family, including their don, Poppa Joe Yakavetta. They killed him in the courtroom where he was about to be acquitted for the third time in two years. The cops had piles of evidence and the court was still going to let him walk. They barged into the courtroom, yanked him off the stand and blew his brains out right there in front of everyone. Rumor has it that all three of them are multilingual."

Sheppard counted back eight years. "I was in Afghanistan back then."

"I was in basic and the news was full of these guys for over six months," Cadman remembered.

"Well, I don't think these are your Saints, only one's from Boston, the other two are from Ireland."

"Wanna bet sir? I've got a bag of snickers coming in on the Daedalus that says they are." Cadman wasn't the only one on base who would bet with their CO, but she was one of the few who were so brazen about it. It was a left over side effect from living in McKay's brain for a while. Sheppard might be her CO, but she also saw him as a friend through Rodney's eyes.

Sheppard smirked. Another bag of snickers would put him in good with his geek. Rodney loved snickers as they were one of the few candy bars that worked with his hypoglycemia rather than against it. "You're on. I'll throw in one of the cans of coffee I've got coming. Deal?"

"Deal, sir." Grinning they shook on it.


	6. Welcome to Pegasus

When the Daedalus reached the Pegasus galaxy, Lorne made sure to gather all of the new Atlantis personnel, especially the ATA positives into one small conference room. "Ok people we're about to drop out of hyperspace. Now, each of you ATA positives have been working with Ancient tech to get used to how to use it and how it feels. Well Atlantis is the largest, fully functional piece of Ancient equipment there is. She is more aware, and she has a further reach. What that means in practical terms is that when we drop out of hyperspace at the edge of the Lantia system, the city's long range sensors will id the Daedalus. Those sensors include whatever it is that allows the mental connection between tech and ATA positives. Unlike most of the Ancient tech we have on Earth, there is no physical contact necessary. She'll be aware of those of you who have the ATA gene anywhere inside the system.

"There are certain protocols that Atlantis follows that you all need to be aware of, even if you are not ATA positive. The very first time she encounters a new person with the ATA gene she will do what we call a deep scan. As near as we can figure out, this is a security precaution left over from the war between the Ancients and the Wraith. We haven't bothered to turn it off for obvious reasons. Everyone agrees that it is a good idea for Atlantis to be able to at least id any Wraith in the area."

One of the Marines in the back asked, "Does that mean that if Colonel Caldwell was ATA positive, Atlantis security would have been aware he'd been snaked when he entered the city?"

Lorne nodded. "If anyone with a strong enough gene gets snaked, the alteration of the person's brainwaves would have shown up on her medical sensors. Atlantis does have quarantine procedures, and they include sealing off of entire sections of the city. Those procedures are enacted by the city's mainframe. Atlantis does things on her own that quite often we have no idea why until after the fact. Those of you who are ATA positive will feel the beginnings of the scan when we drop out of hyperspace. The rest of it, which as near as we can tell is getting a baseline of your normal brainwave patterns and the like, will happen when we arrive in the city. You'll feel a little weird for a while, but you should adjust rather quickly. If you don't get used to feeling Atlantis within a few days to a week, talk to Doctor Becket. Not only is he head of the medical staff, he's ATA himself, so he will know what you're talking about. We'll be assigning you mentors to help you get through your first couple of weeks so you'll know what's normal and what's not.

"If you see something glowing that wasn't a minute before and you don't know why, yell for a city engineer. The best ones we have are Doctors McKay and Zelenka. The last thing we want is for a bomb that some Ancient left behind in a closet to go off just because you opened it. Before you laugh, that has happened. It took nearly the bomb's entire countdown before McKay and Lt. Cadman, our best explosives expert, could disarm it.

"Each of you will be issued an ear piece radio. They are a vital part of the Atlantis communications system. Learn to use it. Do not go anywhere without it! It's stupid to lose your life to an emergency because you left your radio behind. Just remember the story about that bomb in the closet if you need a reason…"

"A closet bomb maker," Murphy murmured to Conner in Gaelic. "Does that remind you of anyone?"

Conner smirked. He did remember the older man who spent most of his evenings down at The Anvil, their Uncle Sivial's pub, and most of his days building various weapons and bombs for sport. If Conner remembered correctly, the man was his grandfather's brother, or perhaps a cousin. It really didn't matter. He was family and he had been called once upon a time. It was only natural that he still played with the tools of the trade. "I just hope we can find a closet booze maker," he returned in the same language.

"If all we can find is someone who makes rotgut, we'll have to fall back on Uncle Sivial's lessons," Murphy groused. He had not enjoyed the lessons they'd received on the process of making the different kinds of homebrew to his uncle's exacting specifications.

"Just be glad that he insisted we learn along with his boys in case they got the call. It'll come in handy now." As usual, Conner was the twin's voice of reason. "It isn't likely that they use money out here. They'll be on the barter system."

"And we know how to brew more than just a good beer," Murphy said. "The more used to rotgut they are, the better our stuff'll taste."

Normally they would have paid better attention to what Lorne was saying, especially as they were going into dangerous territory, but he'd been coaching them for the past three weeks, and quite frankly they were tired of listening to him. Deep in their private discussion of which of their uncle's secret recipes would be best to start off with, they didn't notice that Lorne had finished his lecture. One moment they were talking and the next… "HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!" Conner yelled.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" came from Murphy. The twins were practically squirming where they had been leaning against the wall a moment before. They weren't the only ones uncomfortable, but they were the worst off.

"Welcome to Atlantis and the Pegasus galaxy," Lorne said with an evil grin.

 

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"The Daedalus just dropped out of hyperspace ma'am," the sergeant manning the Atlantis control room sensors told Dr. Elizabeth Weir.

Elizabeth was the official leader of the Atlantis expedition, as it had been felt that a diplomat was the best choice to deal with all of the people from different countries among both the military and the civilian members. Now it meant that not only was she in charge of the city, and had to deal with all of the foreseen conflicts, but also the entire war effort against the Wraith and dealing with the various civilizations in the Pegasus galaxy who considered her to be the president or queen of Atlantis and the people from Earth. It made for a very stressful and difficult position. One of the few joys she had in it was the scheduled arrival of the Daedalus, not so much for the arrival of one of the few people she could call her equal, Colonel Caldwell, but for the supplies and people he delivered. Honestly she simply never wanted to live without chocolate or coffee again; ever.

"Excellent, with any luck those tropical plants and seeds I ordered are on board. Botany has been begging to be allowed to start up that new greenhouse we found with Earth plants," Elizabeth grinned.

Colonel Sheppard walked up to the control station in time to overhear her remark. "If you included coffee in that order I think I think Rodney would move that project up to just below his research into the ZPM."

The smirk they shared with each other was due more to how highly Rodney rated coffee, just below discovering how the Ancients built their equivalent to a large battery to run their city and other instillations, than how important it was that they prepare to wean themselves off of dependency on Earth and the SGC. Having done without them for a year, and knowing the reality that either the Go'uald or the Wraith could cause their current situation to revert back to what it was before, those who made up the 'ruling council' of Atlantis wanted to be as prepared as possible.

"Only if you included chocolate as well and forbid any importation of citrus plants," Dr. Rodney McKay sniffed as he joined them. As he was deathly allergic to citrus and there were plenty of other sources of vitamin c around, he felt he was being entirely reasonable on the subject.

Before Elizabeth could once again remind Rodney that he could not dictate the diet of every man, woman and child on Atlantis, the sergeant yelped; "Doctor McKay! There's a buildup of power in one of the areas in section A; just outside of the area we have open for habitation!" McKay raced over to the control console, yelling for Zelenka over his radio.

Sheppard ordered a squad of Marines to escort the engineer to the area. Looking over McKay's shoulder he could see that it was the one place he had tried to explore in Atlantis that she had not allowed him to enter. He remembered that he had been a little miffed at the time, but had assumed that there was a good reason that no matter what had been tried, the small tower surrounded by what appeared to be lavish gardens could not be accessed.

"What? This doesn't make any sense," Rodney muttered as his hands flew over the console. "Radek, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Yes, yes, it looks like Atlantis is preparing to open little tower. Power is beginning to go to heat for garden, but rest is just…waiting," came the puzzled voice over the radio.

"Ma'am, the Daedalus is requesting permission to land," the sergeant said quietly, keeping a close eye on McKay. In an unknown situation, it was always a wise idea to keep an eye on the chief scientist. How McKay reacted told an educated observer just how bad the situation was.

Elizabeth and Sheppard were educated observers and seeing the confused, but not panicked look on Rodney's face, realized that although a situation that needed an eye kept on it, it didn't look to be a dangerous one. "Permission granted, and tell them welcome back to Atlantis," Elizabeth told him.

"All Marines, this is Sheppard. The Daedalus is here. You have your orders, and this time make sure that the food ends up in the kitchen and not in the armory. I realize it's just as vital as the ammo, but it has its own storage area, Sheppard out." Elizabeth grinned as Sheppard shook his head. It had been an amusing mix up, but only after they'd figured out where the three crates of coffee had gone. Elizabeth was sure that the grunts had been trying to hide them from the geeks in order to budget out the precious resource better, ie – making sure that they got some.

"Shall we go and greet them?" she asked.

Sheppard nodded. "Might as well see what they've brought us this time."


	7. Atlantis' surprise

They were finally here, at long last. Murphy, Conner and Romeo had grabbed up their bags and were waiting their turn to walk down the gangplank. Apparently the only reason that they had been beamed on board the Daedalus in the first place was to preserve the secrecy that the SGC operated under. Romeo had been keeping an eye on the twins ever since their outburst in the conference room. "Are you guys ok?" He tried, but he couldn't hide the fact that he was worried.

It was part of Conner and Murphy's nature to tease, so even with Atlantis' technology wreaking havoc with their nerves; they ganged up on their friend. "Hell no, it feels like ants are running up and down our nerves," Murphy said.

"And each one of those little feet are covered in acid," continued Conner.

"And they're dragging sandpaper under their bodies," said Murphy.

But Romeo had seen the telltale glint in Murphy's eyes that meant he was teasing. "Alright, enough assholes," he interrupted. He'd learned that no joke was beyond the twins the first time they'd met. "I'm serious here. You two were really freaked out when everyone else was just a little uncomfortable."

They laughed, but stopped teasing. "Actually, it's kind of like Jacob is running around our feet trying to get our attention, saying 'look, look, look!' and at the same time giving us the biggest hug he can," Conner tried to explain.

"But it's all in the back of our heads," Murphy finished. "It doesn't hurt, but it's really fucking weird."

"Who's Jacob?" Romeo asked as they finally got their turn to leave the Daedalus.

"Our son, Jacob Noah McManus, he's three," Murphy answered. Both twins put their sunglasses on to block the bright sunlight of a Lantia morning.

Up ahead the three of them could see the city's towers and spires. They'd looked over pictures of Atlantis during the journey, but nothing could have prepared them to experience the city first hand. Murphy and Conner could feel a tugging that they were beginning to associate with Ancient tech and Atlantis in particular. There was something up ahead that Atlantis wanted them to see.

The hustle and bustle of the people surrounding them distracted the twins from Atlantis trying to get their attention. They could hear people being directed to various destinations. It looked like the military personnel were being sent in one direction and the scientists were being sent in another. Two men were directing the traffic, one in military uniform and the other in the scientists' uniform. The scientist was a slightly chubby man with what looked like a small hand held computer in one hand. The military officer also had one of the computers, but his most identifiable trait was his hair, which stood up in more of a wild manner than Conner's did.

The three men were the only people in sight who were not wearing a uniform, which is why it was easy for Lt. Cadman to find them. "Gentlemen, welcome to Atlantis. I'm Laura Cadman, Marine lieutenant. I've been assigned as your guide for today.   
"Now we need to get you to the infirmary for your baseline physicals. While the docs look you over, I'll be making sure that your personal items are taken to your new quarters. I'll be back in time to take you to the mess hall for breakfast. After that, we'll go to orientation for your duty and mentor assignments. The first day here is set aside basically to help you find your way around. If you have any questions, feel free to ask." Cadman had done this enough times by now that it was almost second nature.

"Yes ma'am," Conner said. They followed Cadman inside one of the buildings and from there into a small closet like space.

"This is a transporter, kind of similar to the beaming technology that the Daedalus has, only a lot simpler to use," Cadman explained. She showed them the map on the back of the door. "You simply touch which section of the city you wish to go to." She demonstrated and then the door opened. Rather than the same room they had just left, there was a corridor filled with people running back and forth between several rooms.

One man, about Romeo's height, almost ran into Cadman. "Ah good, yer here Laura. I see you managed to beat the rush. Get yer charges inta the main exam room and I'll be there in a second." Someone yelled for a Doctor Beckett, and the man sighed and looked heavenwards. "Lord why me?" Then he rushed off.

"I take it that was Doctor Beckett," Conner grinned. "No one told us he was a Scot."

"Aye, it's almost like hearing a little bit of home," Murphy agreed. A few minutes later Cadman was on her way out with the men's bags, minus their weapons, and Doctor Beckett was on his way back in.

"Sorry lads, but the day the Daedalus arrives is always something of a muddle and now Atlantis has her circuits in a bit of a knot over something. It's driving the engineers crazy and they're trying to drag every ATA down to try and take a stab at trying to figure out what's wrong including me even though they know I'm practically useless with anything other than medical tech. Now, let's see what's in your charts." Doctor Beckett rubbed the back of his neck, while reading the medical files a nurse handed him.

"That's right," Conner said as Doctor Beckett took his blood pressure. "You're ATA positive too, right?"

"Aye," he grinned at Conner's accent, "but they know not to bother asking me unless they're desperate for help."

"She keeps tugging at me and Murph," Conner nodded at his brother, "like she wants us to go and look at something, I think. Does she always act like a little kid?"

Doctor Beckett looked puzzled for a moment before he looked up something in Conner's chart. "Ah, yer ATA percentage is almost as strong as Colonel Sheppard's, and far stronger than mine. I don't hear her that clearly. You'll find that ya and yer brother and the Colonel are in a separate class as far as Atlantis is concerned. The three of ya are practically Ancients to her way of thinking. If she's tugging at ya, then we'd better make this a quick exam. I need to get yer identifiers down, like yer ink and any scars."

Conner and Murphy quickly ran through their tattoos and their scars, which were much more numerous. Doctor Beckett took a close look at Murphy's right eye, where he'd had a run in with a cantankerous horse a few years back, as well as all of the places where they'd been forced to patch themselves up by cauterizing their wounds. "Dear Lord in Heaven," Beckett breathed. "What on Earth did ya use, a trowel?"

"An iron," Murphy volunteered as Beckett was examining his arm.

"How did ya get it hot enough? It's not like ya can just plug the damned thing in," Beckett tisked.

"We used a propane stove to heat up the metal," Conner answered as he was tying one of his double holsters back on. He'd had to remove his jeans to his knees so that the doctor could look at another healed scar on his thigh.

Beckett shook his head. "And I thought Ronon was bad," he muttered. "Alright lads, Laura is back and she'll take ya to where the engineers are. If Atlantis wants ya, ya'd better go. We've learned the hard way that it's better ta indulge her when she's in this sorta snit."

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Atlantis Recon Team 1 had long ago perfected exploring Atlantis. Sheppard dressed only slightly different than he did on a mission off world, leaving his jacket and pack behind. He had the flashlight of his P90 turned on and was checking the rest of his team. McKay had also abandoned his jacket in favor of carrying two laptops as well as a life sign detector. The other two members of ART1 were natives of the Pegasus galaxy; Teyla, who also had her P90 out, and Ronon, who preferred his blaster.

Teyla was the leader of the Athosian people, the first group that the Atlantis expedition had met in the Pegasus galaxy. Now they lived on Lantia's one continent, protected by those who lived in the city and farming the land. Teyla lived in the city, dividing her time between her people and helping those who lived in Atlantis. She was a skilled diplomat, warrior and trader, something that had more than come in handy over the last couple of years.

Ronon was a survivor of the world Sateda, which had been culled to extinction by the Wraith. He was a warrior who had been turned into a Runner, a living target that the Wraith used both to train their young to hunt and for sport. Runners were immune to Wraith feeding, but as a result of being hunted through the galaxy, and bringing death to any who harbored them, most quickly went insane. Ronon had been a Runner for seven years before meeting ART1 and 2. Their first meeting hadn't been a genteel one, but in the end Doctor Beckett had removed the Wraith tracking device implanted in his back and Ronon had become a member of the city and ART1.

"Cadman, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be escorting our new civilians around on their first day," Sheppard growled, seeing said civilians behind the lieutenant.

"Sir, Doctor Beckett says that Atlantis wants them here," Cadman answered. She had stopped by the armory before bringing Conner, Murphy and Romeo out to the base of the small tower Atlantis had just opened up. All three men now had all of their clips for their respective guns full of bullets, as well as flashlights and radios.

Sheppard closed his eyes and laid a bare hand on the closest wall. He sighed. "You're right. She does want them here."

"Apparently you have competition as Atlantis' golden boy," McKay snarked.

"Rodney, family is never competition," Sheppard tossed back. "Isn't that right boys?" he asked the McManus brothers. He was a bit surprised to see that the brothers had four handguns apiece, worn in two double holsters over jeans and turtlenecks, but figured that their hobby called for as much firepower as they could keep hidden on their persons. He was glad that they hadn't bothered to hide them from him.

"Aye," the twins chorused with a smirk.

Rodney looked from the twins to Sheppard and back. "Well, the hair matches at least," he huffed. "Can we go now?"

"Ronon, take point, Teyla, take our six. Cadman, right flank, I've got left. McManus, Romeo, you three watch over Rodney. He's the figure out what's going on guy. He's what's kept us alive this long." Sheppard waited, but no one objected to his orders. "Ok, fall out."

Ronon opened the ground floor door to the small tower and entered slowly, followed by the others. Conner put Romeo at his left, the third point of the triangle that surrounded Rodney. All three men had strapped their flashlights to their predominant arms, leaving their hands free for their weapons. The first room was obviously an entrance room of some kind. There were benches along the two walls to either side of the front door, with shelves over and drawers under the benches. There was another door in the back wall.

"Rodney?" Sheppard asked.

"Clear," Rodney said, checking his instruments. Sheppard nodded for Ronon to continue on. The next room was simply enormous. It filled the rest of the base of the tower. There was the typical breath taking beauty of Atlantis architecture, with windows letting in light at every opportunity. Along the far wall there was a low bench and along the walls, reaching to the top of the tower were balconies. "I'm not reading any indications of anything, dangerous or not," Rodney said puzzled. "The only power readings I'm getting are for the light panels, and environmental systems, basic stuff that's everywhere."

"It's a cathedral," Conner breathed.


	8. Exploring the Cathedral

"What's a cathedral?" Ronon asked.

"I think it means temple Ronon," Teyla said. "I think he's right. Look at the designs around the windows. Doesn't that look like the mark of the mila poppaaem?"

"Ok, those last two words were Ancient, right? Does anyone know what they mean?" Sheppard asked. The group had spread out around the room, looking at the various wall panels.

"Best translation would be: soldier-priests," Murphy said, running his hands reverently across what had to be the altar. "Sort of like the Knights Templar during the Crusades."

"The mila poppaaem were said to be charged with tending the people and destroying all evil," Teyla said, "so that good could spread throughout all the worlds."

Only Ronon noticed how the brothers stiffened up at Teyla's words. He added his own knowledge of the Ancient Order. "Most of the militaries on the more advanced worlds like to believe they are descended from the mila poppaaem, but it's doubtful that's true. None have the Ancient gene and none in any of our histories have the gift of seeing evil."

"Oh please, like evil is something that someone can just reach out and touch. Evil is completely intangible. There's nothing to see with your eyes. The entire concept of evil is totally subjective," Rodney said, starting on one of his 'these people are so stupid I can't believe' rants.

"Shut your fucking mouth!" Murphy told him.

"Not another word!" Conner said as well. This made them the focus of attention from everyone in the room. Conner sighed. "It's dead serious business, not something to make light of. From what these two," he waved at Ronon and Teyla, "just said, these are the Ancients that are mine and Murphy's ancestors."

"And we are still called to battle evil to this day," Murphy said. "Destroy all that which is evil, so that which is good may flourish."

"It is our duty to teach our children to fight and to pray because we never know who will be called to do what," Conner said. "Not even the most careful of examinations of health or character can show who the Lord will pick as his next shepherds."

"Aye, some of the most gentle have become the fiercest warriors, the laziest become the most dedicated when they hear the call." Murphy was showing his stubborn side. If he was going to be forced to expose himself, then he was going to do it right.

Sheppard made the connection. "That's why you two are vigilantes," he said. "It's a family tradition isn't it?"

"Yes and no. About half of our family takes up the work in one way or another. Usually most are called to the priesthood or life as a nun, but we're talking about his shepherds. We're taught what to do if we're called and we make sure to pass those lessons on, that is family tradition. But we mean it literally when we say we're called to do this work," Murphy said seriously. "We don't like to talk about it because most people would think we're crazy."

"I'd have to agree with that one," Rodney snarked.

"Doctor McKay, my brother and I do have similar dreams, we're twins after all, but we had never had an identical dream before that night, much less one that literally jerked us up out of our beds at the exact same time. We weren't sure the next morning, but the minute we saw someone else for the first time after the dream, we saw the marks and we knew what they meant," Conner said with passion.

"We could read them, tell who was an evil man and what he'd done and who wasn't," Murphy said earnestly. "Ask Romeo about what he's seen us do, how accurate we are when it comes to identifying evil men."

ART1 turned to Romeo, who nodded seriously. "They're 100 percent accurate, no matter who it is, or just how obscure the crime is. Hell, they even called it on the mad bomber on board the Daedalus and the snake thing that was in Caldwell, although they still won't tell me more than the little grey dude got drunk. You can ask Lorne, he was helping me keep an eye on the bomb maker."

"Huh," Sheppard said, filing the information in the back of his mind.

"So, would that make two of you Boston's Saints?" Cadman asked casually. "Those are the only vigilantes that I know of with a perfect record." Sheppard shot her a glare, but honestly he wanted to know as well, and not just for their bet.

"Actually, all three of us are the current Saints of South Boston," Murphy said. "We've always been a triad from the very first, well almost."

"Aye, Roc joined us as we were clearing out from our first hit. Then when he was killed, Da joined us. Romeo signed on when we told Da to stay home, not that he listened." Conner shrugged. Mentioning Rocco still hurt.

"Can't blame Da though, fucking bastard was setting us up again just to get at him, like the fucker hadn't done enough damage sending Da to prison for twenty five to life," Murphy growled.

Everyone watched as Cadman turned a brilliant grin on Sheppard and he groaned. "Alright, you'll get the coffee as soon as I unpack it."

"You bet coffee on whether or not these guys were one specific group of vigilantes? Are you crazy, Sheppard?" Rodney yelped.

"She put up a bag of snickers, besides these two are from Ireland. I thought there was no way it could be true," Sheppard answered.

Rodney wavered a moment. "Still, that's no reason to put up coffee for your end!"

"Relax Rodney. It was the stuff you say is crap and won't drink unless there's nothing else. I saved the good stuff, I promise." Sheppard winked over McKay's shoulder at Cadman. He knew perfectly well that Cadman preferred Folgers to McKay's expensive, gourmet beans. She had said that the only time she'd appreciated just how different the two were was when it was McKay's mouth that had done the drinking. When she'd gotten her own body back, she still couldn't taste the difference.

While Sheppard and McKay were arguing over the bet, and the stakes, Romeo, Ronon and Teyla went back to walking around the cathedral while the twins turned back to the altar. "Sheppard, over here," Ronon called.

"Whatcha got?" Sheppard said as he walked over. McKay had gone back to trying to get readings on the structure. Cadman had gone to follow Romeo around, and the twins were following Sheppard.

"Looks like one of those hidden doors," Ronon said, gesturing at a bit of artwork.

Sheppard looked and nodded. The Ancients liked to hide things in the very walls of their city. Sometimes it was simply a drawer or two, sometimes it was entire rooms. Ronon had gotten good at finding the hidden entrances, mostly because he was so good at noticing details. Sheppard reached out to trigger the door, but stopped before his hand connected. Atlantis had stubbornly refused to allow anyone to enter this tower until the twins had arrived, and they had just found out that the McManus family was still adhering to an Ancient code more than 10,000 years old. Some things should only be opened by the right people, and apparently Atlantis thought the McManus brothers were the right people to open this tower.

"McManus, both of you come here," Sheppard waved the men forward. "One of you put your hand right there and think 'open'."  
The twins looked at each other, shrugged and stepped forward, putting their tattooed hands where the Colonel had pointed. Automatically they'd fallen into the familiar stance, which only helped them to use their connection to think in unison. With no more than a whisper of sound, the door that Ronon had known was there opened, and without hesitation, they stepped through the open doorway.

It was an armory of small hand weapons, not all of which were technologically advanced. Hand axes vied for wall space with knives and daggers, rows of display type cases held projectile weapons of every kind from simple bows to something that looked very similar to a nine millimeter hand gun but had no bore for a bullet to travel out of, but it was the back wall that caught the attention of those who had any knowledge of the weapons used at the SGC. "Rodney, is that what I think that is?" Sheppard asked breathlessly.

McKay nodded. "It's a wall full of zats. There are enough weapons in this one room to outfit our people half a dozen times over with hand weapons, and I'm not talking just here in Atlantis, I mean the people we've got on the mainland too." He hurried over to the wall and began scanning it. "It's a recharging station! They're all fully active."

He didn't notice Teyla's gentle smile at his inclusion of her people in McKay's thoughts of 'our people'. The hunters could use some of these weapons when hunting the herd animals and fowl on the mainland, perhaps with all of these weapons to protect the hunting parties, she could even get Elizabeth to let them hunt on other worlds. There were some delicacies that she hadn't eaten in years. She was putting off thinking about what had been discovered about these new men's family, and she knew it made her a coward, but right now she couldn't handle the ramifications.

"So, what do they do?" Ronon asked. He'd been looking over some of the knives on the wall.

"One shot stuns, two shots kills, oh and you'll love this Conan, three shots disintegrate," McKay said, bouncing on his toes with a huge grin on his face.

Murphy and Conner immediately reached up and grabbed two zats each. "Here, like this," Cadman showed them how to work the energy weapons with one she grabbed. After careful consideration, the twins figured out a way to hang the zats on their holsters. It wasn't the prettiest solution, but it worked and that was what they cared about. The grin on McKay's face matched the ones on their faces, and suddenly they laughed and ran back into the altar room.

Murphy went right and Conner went left, feeling as they hurried along the walls, listening for the slightest hint from Atlantis. Soon each wall yielded up its secrets. Every wall that made up the outside walls of the tower, save the wall that held the entrance chamber, held a room filled with more weapons or something to do with weaponry.

The twins met in the center, and leaned against each other's back. "Oh fuck, this is so beautiful," Murphy said. He was fighting tears. Now he finally understood Romeo's reaction to his pistols.

"Aye, I wish Da could have lived long enough to see this," Conner whispered. "Now there's just one thing left and this place will be perfect."

"What's that?" Ronon asked. As far as he was concerned the sheer amounts of weaponry made this place as good as the place the priests of his home world had said the Ancestors went to.

"A good drink," they chorused.

"Well, I'm sorry to tell you this, but right now all we've got is Zelenka's smurf piss. It's just one step up from rotgut. On the other hand, it's so damned strong you'll be begging for some of Holling's mild almost beer," Sheppard grinned. It seemed he was right; this tower was their place and no one else's.

"Irish car bombs," Murphy suggested, "or at least as close as we can get here."

"Aye little brother, let's go celebrate," Conner said, his right arm thrown over Murphy's shoulder.

"You don't know that, Ma still won't tell us," Murphy growled.


	9. Lady Trouble

Reporting to Elizabeth what they'd found in the cathedral was made much nicer for the fact that she was in the mess hall getting her breakfast. The eight of them caused quite a stir when they walked in and got their meals, or rather the zats that they were all wearing did. Sheppard lead the group over to Elizabeth's table, sliding his tray onto the spot directly across from her. "It's a church," he said and sat down.

"We've been here almost two years and the protocols finally allow us into a church? Why not before now and where did you find those?" Elizabeth pointed at the zat that hung from Sheppard's belt.

The others joined the two of them at the table, leaving room for a nervous scientist with wild hair to sit next to McKay. "It's our family cathedral apparently," Murphy told her. "The whole place is set up perfectly, weapons storage rooms, repair shops, and a beautiful chapel. We just have to find room to put in a brewery and we're set."

"I wonder if we can get Uncle Sivial to send us what we need to start," Conner said.

"It really hasn't been a priority," Elizabeth said reprovingly. It was bad enough that Zelenka had a still going. It was probably the only thing she didn't like about the scientist. While she knew the futility of attempting to run a dry base, she preferred that what alcohol was available was limited. The amount of strain her people were under practically invited some people to become alcoholics and that was the last thing she or anyone else here needed. Personally she restricted herself to what she could import from Earth, not only did that limit the amount she could drink, but it also reduced her risk of poisoning herself from badly made alcohol.

"Oh we understand that," Murphy said. "You need to keep your people alive and safe before anything else. Besides, it takes years to perfect a good brew recipe, and you've been working with alien ingredients. It's a wonder you've managed to get your homebrew to any level above rotgut."

"Ah, thank you," Zelenka cried. "At last, someone who understands. Too much time I spend making sure city does not go boom. Not enough time to get good with still. Will get there, but not there yet."

"If you'd like we can look over your still, make sure it isn't the equipment that's giving you problems," Conner offered. "Uncle Sivial beat it into our heads that half of your brew was in your equipment."

"Your uncle is brewer?" Zelenka asked, excited. Conner and Murphy nodded, as they were both taking a drink at the same time.

"I understand that the two of you will be helping me and my staff with translating the Ancient database," Elizabeth said, eager to change the subject. "How long do you think it will take the two of you to get up to speed with Ancient?"

"We're fluent now," Conner shrugged.

"Aye, we didn't have that much to do on the trip out, so we studied a lot," Murphy said.

Romeo interrupted. "Don't believe the modest act, Dr. Weir. These two didn't spend any more time than I did on those language lessons. They're just that good."

Elizabeth's change of subject was effective and soon an intense conversation began about the Ancient database and the language, but it did not fool Teyla who had studied her fellow leader for some time now. She could see the stiffness in Elizabeth's posture, slight as it was. The carefully chosen words and tone merely confirmed Teyla's suspicion. Elizabeth did not like these men; in fact she was quite angry with them. Although Teyla did not know why Elizabeth was angry with the three mila poppaaem, she did know that Elizabeth's anger was going to cause yet another conflict between their respective peoples.

Teyla kept her sigh internal, showing only her diplomat's face to those around her. She had no wish to face these legends come to life. She and her people had faced enough turmoil since coming to the city of the Ancestors. Yes, their eyes had been opened to the true nature of those whom they worshiped and they had seen wonders and dangers beyond imagining in the days of her childhood, but the price had been very high, especially for her personally.

If it hadn't been for these people, she would never have questioned her ability to sense the Wraith as anything other than a gift from the Ancestors. She would never have discovered that she, along with a few others, had the very DNA of their enemies inside her body. Once her ability had made her and those like her prized for their seed, but now they were all but shunned as partners. No one wanted to mate with someone, who through no fault of their own, could bear or sire a monster.

The mila poppaaem could still see that which was evil. What did they see when they looked at her? Did they see her life of service to her people? Or did they see the evil of the Wraith that hid within her genes? What would they see when they looked at her people? Every person was needed to bring more children into this life if her people were to survive. Would they declare that a selfish and evil path? Would they see the way the women had tried to get the seed of the men of their world as evil? Would they see it as the sacrifice that the Asthosians did?

How would her people react to the knowledge that the mila poppaaem had returned? Would they insist on the Ancient ritual? Would they sacrifice themselves so that the mission of the mila poppaaem could spread throughout all the worlds once more? Or would they treat these new men the way they did all who had the ATA genes? Teyla knew of at least three women who had managed to conceive a child with a man from Atlantis, and that the men had no idea. Well, she thought they had no idea; it was never wise to completely assume anything where these people were concerned. They had surprised her too many times.

There were simply too many questions, and she had no idea where to start. Then there were the men themselves. Their people had kept to their oaths for over ten thousand years. What sort of men had such dedication produced? They had laughed with joy at the sight of the weapons of their ancestors, and they had looked with awe at their place of worship. They shrugged off their ability to learn other's languages, something that had been so difficult for her ancestors that the Ancients had built a translation device into the stargates. They spoke of brewing meads, and smiled in the face of Elizabeth's anger. They accepted an outsider as one of their own, but treated those with the ATA gene with gentle distance. She was so confused. She needed to talk to Halling.

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Conner and Murphy looked around their new apartment, satisfied that the main bedroom had a bed big enough for the both of them, while at the same time the suite was not so big that they got lost in it. "Well, what do you think?" Murphy asked as he bounced on the bed.

"I think I can't wait to get back to the cathedral and start really exploring," Conner said with a grin. He set their only picture of Gretchen and Jacob on a small shelf near the bed. He sighed and turned serious for a moment. "I think Dr. Weir is going to be difficult to work with, maybe impossible. She's sure as hell not Smecker or Eunice that's for sure."

Murphy laughed. "Those two were smart enough to wrap the entire fucking FBI in knots for us, all without getting caught too. You're right though, she's more like that preacher in Atlanta, remember him?"

"Oh fucking hell yes, never mind his flock was being slowly destroyed by that fucking drug pusher and his murderers; we were the bad guys because we didn't turn the other cheek. Fucking idiot," Conner said without heat. On the one hand, the man had been the worst sort of idiot, but at least it hadn't been out of indifference. No, he just really and truly believed that total pacifism was the only way to follow the Lord. Conner couldn't bring himself to hate the man for standing by his convictions. That didn't mean that he had been willing to let the evil men who had been preying on the innocent members of that church live though.

"At least she knows that the Wraith can't be reasoned with, the ones with a taste for Humans anyway," Murphy said, as he fell back onto the bed and stared out the window overlooking the ocean. "I wonder why no one seems to realize that there have to be other food options for the Wraith."

Conner snorted. "Because they're too focused on not getting eaten, and because the Wraith don't want anyone to figure it out," he said. "They've chosen evil, and they don't want anyone to realize it."

Murphy nodded. "Fuckers are hiding behind the 'but we gotta eat' excuse. Sick fucks," he scowled.

"She going to give us trouble with Koyla and anyone else who the Lord sends us after," Conner sighed. He threw himself on the bed next to his brother.

"Aye, she thinks that just because she's got a treaty with the Genii that there's no problem as long as no one breaks it. An entire planet of people are going to die because of Koyla and his men and she's willing to ignore it." Murphy jumped up and began pacing around the bedroom.

"We simply have to trust that the Lord brought us here in time to save those who can be saved," Conner tried to calm his twin. "I think that the first thing we'd better start translating in the database is the medical information. The more we can give Doctor Beckett, the more likely he'll be able to save more of the Genii."

Murphy nodded and then they heard a chime from the front room. "Looks like we've got company." They went into the front room, but before either of them could reach for the door it opened by itself.

"Thanks guys, my hands are full and I don't have the gene so I can't trigger the door by thinking about it," Cadman said as she entered. Her arms were indeed full, with two laptops, two Ancient tablets, and four jars hooked over her fingers with a suspicious blue liquid in two and a green one in the others.

"Ok, here's a list of your duties and a tentative schedule. You'll be splitting your time between the database team and whatever Colonel Sheppard assigns you. Right now that's flight lessons." She handed over a piece of paper that looked like it had once been a shipping manifest. "He'll also be able to help you get a grip on just how sensitive the Ancient equipment is for the two of you. There are basic instructions for the laptops with your schedule as well as for the tablets. The laptops are for your translation work and the tablets are for your personal use. We do have an internet set up here, instructions for that are on your tablets. You'll want to access that right away. We get weekly transmissions from the SGC that includes e-mail, so you might have some letters." She handed over the equipment. "And last but not least, two jars of Doctor Z's best batch of smurf piss and Halling's near beer. You should be able to guess which is which."

"When they said smurf piss, I didn't think it was because of the color," Conner said warily, picking up one of the blue jars.

Murphy popped open the other jar. "Well, let's see how bad it is." He took a shot while the other two looked on with trepidation; Cadman because she knew the sort of kick the smurf piss had, and Conner because he didn't. Murphy's face twisted and he passed the jar back to Cadman. "We've got to get everything we can from Uncle Sivial, even if we have to beg." He shuddered.


	10. Meetings and news for the boys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for extreme fluff. Cuteness sweet enough to rot teeth.

"Was I that obvious?" Elizabeth sighed as she leaned back in her chair.

"Only to those who know you," Sheppard said. He walked in and sat down in front of her desk, thinking the door shut behind him. "What about them bugs you so much?" he asked after a few minutes of strained silence.

"What doesn't, John?" She got up to pace. "They're killers, vigilantes. That alone goes against everything I believe in, everything I've ever worked towards. They came in and sat down wearing some of the most powerful hand weapons we know and then they started talking about adding alcohol to the mix. At least Doctor Zelenka doesn't produce enough of his homebrew to get the entire base drunk. They want to set up a brewery! They're religious fanatics! How long will it be before they decide to resume their 'work' and start killing all of us?" Elizabeth sighed and dropped into her chair. "Plus that synchronicity thing they were doing creeped me out."

"Well, the last one I think is the easiest to answer. They're twins and closer than most," John said with a grin. "According to the file that General O'Neill sent me they're actually phobic about being separated. That's why I put them in the suite I did. There are two bedrooms, one with two single beds and the other has one of those not quite king beds. They can figure out their sleeping arrangements for themselves."

"As for the fact that they kill people, so do I; actually I've killed more people than they have, especially if you count my waking up the Wraith."

"John, that's completely different," Elizabeth interrupted sternly.

John shook his head. "Actually it isn't. When I got the file on them I went and did some research. Not only did they only kill criminals, they only went after repeat offenders that were either released with a slap on the wrist or got off scot free. They've never killed an innocent person. As for their being religious fanatics, it actually doesn't have that much to do with what religion they follow."

John leaned forward, willing her to understand. "They are the descendents of an order of Ancient Knights. They still follow the code of that order. Teyla told me what's still remembered here in Pegasus, and it's practically a quote of what Murphy told me. They also said that they have no idea who in their family will take that path, just that there is always someone who is called to do so. I think that their family has bred themselves to reinforce their Ancient genes, breeding for the one specific trait of being able to see evil. I think it's one of the things that came about because of the Ancients' obsession with ascension. We know they started to evolve psychic abilities. They do believe that this ability is triggered by God and as a result the entire family is very religious, but they don't discriminate against anyone's religion."

Elizabeth shook her head. "The universe isn't as black and white as that John. There are a thousand shades of grey and I'm worried about what they'll do when they meet that grey head on. What will they do about Carson and his involvement with the Hoffans? What about your waking the Wraith and killing Colonel Sumner? What will they decide about Rodney's destroying five sixths of a solar system? We've all screwed up and pretty badly with serious consequences. I don't want them to kill any of our people because they've decided that we're evil because of what we've done."

John stood up. "Elizabeth, I think you're wrong about them. I know you've made up your mind though. Just give them a chance to show you what sort of men they are." He turned and left her office. He hated her 'shades of grey' routine, but he knew she honestly believed it. There were some things though that combat had taught him, including that there was actual evil in the universe and that the only way to deal with it was to destroy it.

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Teyla was fortunate enough to get a ride with one of the groups helping the Athosians with harvesting the crops planted on the mainland. This was their second major harvest of the season, and Halling had told her that this time there would be enough to not only feed all of their people, including those who lived in the city, but there would be more than enough to trade as well. Every year her people grew small amounts of specialty items; teas, spices, herbs and fruits. In bad years, these had gone to trade for basic necessities. This year there would be luxury goods.

It was the Earth born who had made this possible. Farming was hard work, especially when beginning on new land. John's Marines had made the difference in the amount of ground that could be farmed. Rodney's engineers had made small machines that increased the speed at which they could work. Elizabeth had ensured that no one starved while the new crops were being grown that first year, even as they were rescuing more and more refugees from Wraith attacks. It was good that they would be able to repay the kindness that had made their survival possible.

"Halling!" she cried as she walked towards the village.

"Teyla! We did not expect you today." Halling was a tall man, big across his shoulders and with the muscles that came from the hard work it took to survive in the Pegasus galaxy. "It's looking like the, buckwheat," Halling paused before the still unfamiliar name, "will soon be ready. I did not think that anything would grow on that ground. Doctor Parish was right and now I owe him a trip to look at the plants of this world." Halling was grinning as he said this.

Halling was not sorry to lose the small bet. The grains that the Earth born had introduced the Athosians to had not only made for a greater variety in their diet, but also provided them with rare grains to trade with. There were some worlds whose nobility considered themselves to be above eating the plain and simple grains that were the mainstay of the common people. The Athosians could now supply grains that quite literally no one from their galaxy had ever seen before and no one else could grow.

Teyla smiled. "That is wonderful Halling, but I bring news. Something has happened and the council needs to be called."  
Halling's smile fell from his face. The Athosians were a simple people, although once they had been much more. It took a great need for the council to be called as they were content to follow where their leader walked. "I'll call them."

The council met in Halling's home, and consisted of all the remaining elders, a term that had a different connotation in Pegasus than elsewhere. The youngest of the elders was twenty years of age, the oldest was fifty. Teyla greeted each of them as they entered Halling's home. When they were all gathered, she began her tale. "As you all know, when the Ancestors left our galaxy, they traveled to Earth. There they married and had children with the Earth born. This is why Colonel Sheppard is so beloved of Atlantis." She waited as each of them nodded seriously. "Two more men have come to Atlantis that the city recognizes as children of the Ancients. They are brothers and something called twins. I have not yet learned what that is. What I have learned is that their ancestors were the mila poppaaem. They still follow the code, and they have the gift. Atlantis would not allow any to enter the temple of the mila poppaaem until they arrived. I cannot decide what to do next. I need your guidance for our people's future."

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John had decided to hide out in the McManus' new quarters. To make sure he was welcome he'd brought his supply of beer, four six packs, Ronon and a few DVDs with a player that Rodney had fiddled with until it could hook up to the Ancient equivalent of a wide screen TV. It hadn't originally been put to that use of course, but every set of quarters in the central spire had one, so there were no objections from anyone who really mattered.

By the time Rodney had figured out where John had gotten to, (he knew from one look at Elizabeth's face that the two of them had gotten into it again,) it had turned into a party. Ronon and Murphy were comparing knives and drinking shots of smurf piss. Conner and Radek were discussing Radek's still and Doctor Beckett was trying to convince them both to use the not-corn from PXT-794 as it was something they had in abundance. John and Lorne were explaining puddlejumpers to a bemused Romeo.

Generally one not to partake of parties unless either forced to or it involved food, for once Rodney didn't care. There was booze to be had and they had zats. That was reason enough for him to celebrate. The damned Wraith would probably know all about them, but he still doubted that they could recover from disintegration. "I can't believe that you're doing straight shots of that!" however, was the first thing that came out of his mouth.

Murphy leaned back so that his head hung upside down. "It's terrible, but after a couple of jars, you don't mind so much."

"What does your rank mark mean?" Ronon asked Murphy suddenly, pointing at the tats on Murphy's arm.

"Rank?" Murphy asked puzzled. Then his expression cleared when he saw where Ronon was pointing. "Nah, I just like having them. They're reminders of our faith. I got others, more than Conner cause he's a Nancy boy." Before Ronon could ask him what he meant, Conner had tackled Murphy and they proceeded to get into one of their frequent tussles. They had known they couldn't get into any fights while they were on the Daedalus, and as a consequence were more than ready to go at the drop of a hat.

Within a few minutes Sheppard and Lorne had settled down from their initial reaction of alarm to amusement. There was no doubt at all the that the two men were brothers as they used every hold and dirty trick out there, except that which would actually cause physical damage. "Three weeks stuck in that tin can. No fighting, no drinking, no smoking, it's a wonder we didn't all go crazy. I think the only way we got through it was taking out that snake thing and that NID traitor," Romeo said, as he watched Conner and Murphy roll across the floor trading punches and slaps.

"It wouldn't have mattered," was Ronon's opinion. "They're not even as good as your Marines, Sheppard."

"You shouldn't have said that amigo," Romeo said with a grin.

Before Ronon could react, both of the twins were on him, and this time they weren't holding back. Every dirty trick they'd ever learned from every bar brawl they'd ever been in, every move they'd ever learned from the fighters in their family and beyond was used against the former Runner. It didn't take Ronon long to realize that he was in a real fight and to react, but by then the twins had the upper hand, especially as they moved as one person, each knowing where the other would be before his brother moved. It didn't take long for them to have Ronon pinned. He stiffened expecting the worst, but Conner just tapped him on the head. "Tag, you're it!"

Laughing the twins let him go, and went back to get more drinks. Conner picked up his tablet and Murphy went to join Sheppard's group. "You know that the two of you have the worst sense of humor ever right?" Romeo asked.

"Blame our Ma," Murphy laughed. "We get our sense of humor from her."

"Hey Murph, Ma sent us an email!" Conner called, having finally worked his way through the Ancient version of an owner's manual. Comparing what they had written with what the scientists had figured out made learning the options that the scientists hadn't figured out yet a lot easier.

"Yeah?" Murphy asked as he crowded in behind his twin. Conner nodded and with a thought, pulled up a holographic screen. "Hey, she sent a vid!" Murphy cried, pointing at the file. "When did she learn that?"

"Don't you remember when we sent that one for Doc to Duffy?" Conner reminded him. They were now the center of attention, and everyone crowded in behind them to watch.

Conner started up the vid. "You ungrateful little pissants really did it this time!" their mother growled at them from the screen. The twins laughed at their mother's frequent pet name for them. "You two better be good, you hear me? You do what you're told so's you can come home. Don't you put Gretchen and Jacob through what your Da put me through! At least I only had the two of you to try and beat some sense into. Gretchen and Jacob both have something to say to you. You'd best be sending them letters and such or I'll beat you both shitless when you get home!"

"Yes Ma," they chorused.

A young woman appeared next in front of the camera with a three year old boy on her lap. Jacob had his mother's dark hair, although it was easily as messy as either of his fathers along with their bright blue eyes. "Da, Da! Ma an Grama teeched me the prayer! A shepherd I shall be, for Thee my Lord for Thee," he took a deep breath and continued. "Power hath defended forf from Thy hand, so my feets shall swifty carry out Thy commans, So I shall floo a river forf unto Thee, and deeming wif souls shall it ever be. E Nomini Patri, et Fili, et Spiritus Sancti." Jacob bounced up and down, a big grin on his face as his mother laughed in the background.

Conner and Murphy burst out laughing. "He did it!" they told each other excitedly.

"Wow, you guys learn that shit early, don't you?" Romeo asked.

"Aye, he did better than we did at that age though," Conner said.

"That's because we did it half in Gaelic and half in Latin," Murphy pointed out. "And we kept switching it up."

On the screen Gretchen said something in German, the love in her voice coming through loud and clear, even for those who did not understand the language. The twins sat still for a moment, shocked until the video ended, then turned to each other in surprise. "Another set of twins?" they asked each other.


	11. Let's Party!

"Congratulations," Sheppard said. "So how many sets of twins are there in your family and who is having this pair?" Caught up in the conversation no one, save Ronon who was leaning against the wall, noticed that Teyla had entered the suite. She kept quiet and joined her pouting friend in listening to the others.

"There have been sets of twins before us, but until now we were the only ones still living. There are two sets of triplets though. One set is identical and they're priests. The other set are fraternal girls and all of them are married and have a bakery in town. Everyone expected that one of them would be the next one to have multiples, but it looks like we're it." Conner sill looked stunned as he answered. "We're going to be Da's again, Murph." Murphy just nodded, still in shock.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean you're both going to be dads? That doesn't make any sense!" Rodney objected. Radek dissolved into giggles, pleased to have gotten the answer before Rodney. "Oh shut up!"

"We're both Jacob's Da, and Gretchen is pregnant and having twins," Conner said, the shock of the surprise wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

"Ok, that's as weird as you two not knowing which one of you is older," Cadman said. Now that the video was over, everyone was moving around so that they could see the twins.

Murphy was jolted back into thinking again. "Our Ma won't tell us. Thirty five years we've been asking, and the only answer we've ever gotten outa her is, 'the one with the bigger cock!'" he said sourly.

"Well, aside from the appalling vision of being told that by your own mother, and I really, really hope you keep such other memories to yourselves, why don't you just look up your birth certificates?" Rodney wanted to know as he sat down.  
"We have," Conner said, "on the off chance that she told the doc who wrote them out but she didn't."

"We were born in the backseat during rush hour," Murphy explained. "Not even Da knew which one of us was born first, and believe me, we asked."

"Aye, he was too busy trying to get all of us to the hospital. We were two months early," Conner said.

"Oh dear God," Beckett breathed in horror. "How did the two of ya survive? Thirty five years ago, seven month babies had half of a chance, but the two of you being twins would have only put ya at maybe three or four pounds at most, and not being born in the hospital would have sent yer chances inta a nose dive."

"Two point nine," Murphy raised his hand.

"Three point two," Conner raised his. Then he continued. "Murphy almost didn't make it. To this day the doctors have no idea why he did. Ma insists that it was my fault he survived. She insisted that I be put in his incubator to say goodbye. When the nurse did,"

"Over the doctor's objections by the way," Murphy interrupted.

Conner gave his brother a smack to the back of the head. "This idiot stabilized and didn't have a problem after that." The smile he gave his brother left no one any doubt how he felt about it.

"And we're not sure who Jacob's biological Da is because we've never bothered to check," Murphy said with a shrug. "There's no reason to. We're both hand-fasted to his mother."

"Ok," said Lorne, who'd been silent up until now. "That's weird and more than a little creepy."

"Why? There's plenty of men out there who have more than one wife. Why can't a woman have more than one husband?" Murphy wanted to know.

Conner shook a finger over at Lorne. "Besides, didn't you wonder just why the general told you not to separate us?"

"Because you're phobic," John answered for his second. "Oh, you're that phobic?"

The twins nodded. "Thirty five years and we've never been apart for more than a few hours. We tried dating, but none of them got it, not even the other set of twins our cousins set us up with."

"How did you end up with Gretchen then?" Cadman asked. She'd taken advantage of everyone shifting around to sit next to Beckett and was now petting his hand. Beckett didn't notice, still caught up in thinking about Mrs. McManus delivering premature twins in the backseat of her car while her husband tried desperately to get her to a hospital.

"The good Lord led us to her," Conner said simply.

"We were in New York, and we landed a job translating for the NYPD's special victims unit," Murphy said. "We didn't try to get it. The job just landed in our laps."

"Aye, there was a huge accident in the subway, and we happened to be in a car with two of the unit's detectives along with a lot of others who didn't speak any English," Conner said. "We ended up translating for them and they started calling us whenever they ran into someone they needed to talk to that didn't speak the language."

"They rescued Gretchen, but she only spoke German at the time. Poor girl had been sold by her father to a pedophile as a slave when she was ten. She'd been trapped in his home for years. We took her home to Ireland for Ma to look after. There's no one in the world who can teach a lad or lass how to grow a backbone like our Ma," Murphy said with a smile.

"Aye, that was nearly six years ago. Two years after that God released us from our calling so we went home and Gretchen was waiting for us. She was determined to marry one of us, and when we explained why we thought we wouldn't ever get married, well, she hauled us off to our Uncle Seibal, who was the village priest and demanded that he hand-fast us both to her. Hand-fasting is still legal in Ireland and unlike a Catholic wedding; there are no restrictions on who can marry who. Well, she managed to talk him and us into it and Jacob was born almost a year later," Conner finished the tale.

"And now she's having twins," Murphy said with a huge grin on his face.

"What are twins?" Teyla asked, breaking her silence.

The others looked at her in surprise, but Doctor Beckett said, "The Athosians don't have multiples. I think the trait has been culled out of their gene pool."

"That's terrible!" the twins said in horror. They couldn't imagine any people being denied the closeness that was the result of multiples being born.

"Teyla, twins are two children born from the same mother and the same pregnancy. Any pregnancy that results in more than one child are termed a multiple pregnancy and is considered to be a risky one; the more children the more risk. With your people being on the run from the Wraith, I'm not surprised that any woman who was capable of bearing multiples was culled long before she could pass the trait on," Beckett explained.

"That is unfortunate," Teyla said. "Among my people, such a thing would be considered a gift, especially now with our numbers so low." She turned to the twins. This trait, on top of the ATA gene and being mila poppaaem, made their seed most precious. She knew after so long with the Earth born that the men would not sleep with any but their wife, but perhaps she could trade for their seed. "Would either of you consider trading your seed?" she asked.

"What?" they asked, not sure that they had heard her correctly.

"Here in Pegasus many of our planets have populations that are so small that if seed were not traded between planets those people would die out entirely. The Athosians are but one of them. I am not asking that you sleep with any Athosian woman, just if you would consider trading your seed for some item. ATA men are more highly valued than others, as the two of you are twins, this makes your seed even more valuable than Colonel Sheppard's," Teyla patiently explained. She was used to explaining such customs to the Earth born, and she would not cheat these men out of what they were due should they agree.

Conner and Murphy stared at her while Sheppard laughed. "You two wouldn't believe the number of times I've been asked that."

Rodney snorted. "The minute they find out that he can turn on their 'sacred object' which is usually something incredibly stupid, they're all over him. That is when the priestess/princess/ascended female just isn't chasing him from the minute they set eyes on him!"

"Hey when we stop on advanced planets they're all over you for your big brain!" Sheppard pointed out.

"Of course they are, they're advanced enough to know a good thing when they see it," Rodney said, not realizing how he sounded. To him it was simply a fact. They should want his genetics for their superior intelligence potential.

"No, they're just so concerned about inbreeding that they overlook your personality," Ronon said, joining the conversation for the first time since the twins had trounced him. That brought a round of laughter from everyone.

Ronon was not happy about being beaten in a fight. He couldn't figure out exactly how they'd managed to do what they'd done. It wasn't that he was arrogant enough to believe that he was invincible; the Wraith had rammed that down his throat. He simply couldn't understand how they'd managed to coordinate their attack way they had. He also did not understand what Conner had told him when he'd been sure he was about to be broken the same way he sometimes broke the Marines, but from their laughter it was a joke at his expense. He didn't like that either.

"HEY!" Rodney sputtered.

"What did you mean you were released from your calling?" John asked, both to change the subject before Ronon and Rodney got going and because he was curious. He hadn't thought that it was possible for them to retire unless they were put six feet under.

"When we've finished what the good Lord wishes for us to do, we no longer see the marks. It doesn't mean that we won't be called again, just that it's his way of giving us a time of peace," Murphy told them. "If that lasts for the rest of our lives, it is a blessing."

"If it doesn't, it just means that we're needed somewhere," Conner said. "Although I certainly wasn't expecting to end up out here!"

"Nah," Murphy laughed. "We were just going after Panza and Yakavetta for killing Father McKinney. Bastards killed the good Father in his own chapel, right in front of the altar. No way we were going to let that slide, especially not since we'd woke up seeing the signs three days before we were told."

"Aye, the good Lord gave us time to get ready this time. The first time we were given our first hit before we'd even had breakfast," Conner remembered.

"You and your fucking rope," Murphy muttered.

"It was damned useful rope!" Conner began, but Romeo interrupted.

"Hey, no arguing. We've got something to celebrate." Romeo raised his beer. "To the next set of McManus twins! May they be as faithful and good with guns as their fathers."

"Here here!" came from around the room.


	12. The Jumper Bay

It was a week after the party before ART-1 saw the twins and Romeo again. They were coming back from a trading mission when they ran into the three helping Doctor Zelenka with jumper repairs. "Radek! Tell me you aren't letting him do repairs!" Rodney moaned as he limped over towards the group gathered next to jumper seven.

"Relax Doc," Romeo said, looking at the mud covered scientist. "I'm a fucking apprentice and this is my first week on the job. That means I've gotten to the point where I'm handing out tools and thinking on or off when Doctor Z tells me too. The twins are here to help translate anything that might come up and make like a light switch if I can't."

"I am not so stupid or desperate that I would allow him to touch anything at this stage Rodney," Zelenka said calmly. "Jumper six is ready for its test flight. You do remember what we discussed?"

"Fine, fine, I'll grab an ATA moron who's flight qualified and take six out as soon as Carson and Elizabeth are done with me," Rodney said over his shoulder as he followed his equally muddy team on their way to the infirmary.

"What was that about?" Romeo asked curiously. He'd been on Atlantis long enough to have heard about ART-1's usual luck off world, so seeing them disheveled, muddy and just downright pathetic hadn't phased him. Hell, he even knew that the reason he'd gotten off so lightly with Doctor McKay was because of the exhaustion that poured off of every member of the team. What he hadn't expected was the change in Doctor Z's tone from 'of course not stupid and the only reason I'm not calling you on your obvious idiocy is because you're in terrible shape' to 'little brother begging big brother to save him from taking out the trash in the dark'. Conner and Murphy looked up from their seats where they were leaning against the wall of the Jumper Bay, reading the Ancient database on their laptops. They were curious as well.

Zelenka looked down at the crystals he was testing, ashamed. "Everything I could ever want is here in Atlantis, so I do not like to go off world very much. If I am needed I will go, but while 'gate travel I do not mind because it is over before you know it, jumpers are too much like planes for me to be comfortable traveling in them. I know too much about how things can go wrong."

"At least you've got a phobia that makes sense," Murphy pointed out. "Ours just makes us look like big babies crying for their momma."

"You'd better make sure the man eats before he takes that flight," Conner said. "He's a good man for all his arrogance and he may forget to eat because he's already tired."

"What do you see when you look at Rodney?" Zelenka asked. It was the question everyone and no one wanted to ask. What did the twins see when they looked at the people of Atlantis.

Conner smiled at the worry in Zelenka's voice. "Doctor Z, pride is a sin, not a crime. Jesus himself is the only person who has ever lived without sin."

"We read about him blowing up five sixths of a solar system and while he made the mistake of giving in to pride, it was just that, a mistake. He would only be guilty of a crime if he'd known what was going to happen and did it anyway in order to harm innocents," Murphy explained.

Zelenka breathed a sigh of relief. "We were all a little worried. We have all made mistakes since coming here that have carried a high price, most often in blood."

"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," Conner quoted.

"And that sure as hell ain't us," Murphy said with a smile. Radek gave a little laugh as he nodded, before leaving the Jumper Bay.

"So what do you think about being a jumper mechanic for the next five years Romeo?" Conner asked.

"Kinda like I found my way home," Romeo admitted. "Ever since Doc Beckett gave me that shot, this whole place has been singing to me, but nothing more than these babies." He petted seven like it was a horse.

Murphy had gone back to reading the database. As they were only restricted to places where they could bring their laptops and still be within the city, the brothers had taken to reading the database where ever they happened to be. While its lack of any sort of organization that they could recognize made things difficult to find, he was beginning to think that the answer was staring him right in the face, for all that he couldn't see it. For instance, he was looking for medical information on radiation sickness. What he had found looked like infertility treatments. "Hey Conn, it looks like you were right about the Ancients."

"Right about what?" Conner asked.

Murphy snorted. "Most of them couldn't get their fucking dicks up. I just found a medical center where they'd put blood samples in a machine and out pops a kid nine months later."

"Hey, mark that man," Romeo said as he turned around. "That's one of the things that Doc Beckett is gonna need."

"Why?" Murphy asked. Conner just looked puzzled.

"Because the Genii have been making their nuts glow in the dark, remember? They're probably already getting kids born with all sorts of defects. Doc Beckett could use that info to make sure there's a next generation without any," Romeo pointed out.

"I hadn't thought of that," Conner said, his voice going as grim as it got. "I was worried about all of those people who've been sentenced to death by radiation poisoning. What about all those innocent little babies Koyla and his wanna-be Nazis have sentenced to lives in bodies that don't work?"

"We need to take a good look at their politicians," Murphy said, as grim as his brother. "I know we're going to have more on our list eventually than just Koyla, but we should start there."

Teyla had arrived back in the Jumper Bay, damp from her shower after a quick physical as she hadn't been injured just dirty, and had heard the discussion between the three men. "The Athosian people wish to be first," she announced, her pounding heart not showing on her face. "Starting with me."

"What are you talking about lass?" Murphy asked.

"You wish to take up the duties once performed by the mila poppaaem, purging those who are evil from the worlds of Pegasus. My people wish to be the first you examine." Teyla was glad that she had a chance to make this request without any witnesses.

"But why?" Conner asked.

Teyla drew a deep breath and gathered her courage. "Many generations ago a Wraith experimented on the people of a now dead world. The only survivors of those experiments were taken in by the Athosians. The experiments were genetic, and at least one trait of those experiments was passed on. Most of the survivors of those experiments went insane. I am descended from one of those survivors." Teyla knelt down in front of the brothers and bowed her head.

"What did they do that makes you think we will see anything left over from those experiments?" Conner asked.

"They were given a gene therapy like the one that Doctor Beckett uses to help those whose ATA genes are recessive. The Wraith used the DNA of its own people. I have their DNA," Teyla admitted. "It can cause people to do unspeakable things."

"Lass, there's nothing wrong with you that we can see," Murphy said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're a good person, but I think we just found something in the database that might help you and those like you." He pulled his laptop back into his lap and showed her a map of Atlantis. "Here," he pointed towards a room that had not yet been explored, "is where the Ancients created their children when they needed to use technology. I'm sure there must be a way there for the Wraith DNA to be taken out."

"And as long as Gretchen agrees, Murphy and I'll donate our DNA so that you can have children. I know you'll make sure that they know their heritage so that if they're called they'll know what to do," Conner reassured her. Murphy nodded. It was the one thing that they were concerned about. No one knew exactly how God chose them to be shepherds; save that it was only their family that was chosen.

"I will not cheat you!" Teyla said sternly. "If the technology still works, if you are granted permission, and if Doctor Beckett can make the technology work, a fair trade must be arranged."

"TEYLA? ARE YOU IN HERE?" called Elizabeth.

"OVER HERE!" she called in return.

"Oh there you are," Elizabeth said, eyeing the men with Teyla. "I need your report for Aldouka. Ronon just growled and stalked off, and John and Rodney are still in with Doctor Beckett."

Teyla sighed. "The season of storms came early. The people of that world have already retreated to their winter camps. We found nothing but mud and treacherous ground. We fell down a lot," she admitted.

"Well, at least no one was shooting at you this time," Elizabeth tried to offer some comfort.

"Yes, and there were no Wraith either. Not even they would want to be out in that mess." Teyla turned back to the twins. "Has Major Lorne certified you as pilots yet? The stronger your ATA gene, the easier it seems to be to learn how to fly the puddlejumpers."

Romeo tried to stifle his amusement, but failed utterly. Conner and Murphy glared at their friend. "We just got done with our solo flights," Conner admitted. "That's why we're practically sitting in each other's laps. I understand that Lorne and Sheppard need to know how long we can be separated, but eight hours was very difficult."

"Then if you could fly Ronon and I to the mainland, you could see what we have to offer as trade for your seed," Teyla said.

"We'll take you, but we already figured out what a good trade would be," Conner said. "We'd like your people to help us set up the chapel for our religion. We'd need wood workers, blacksmiths, and candle makers to work on it."

"What religion do you belong to?" Elizabeth asked, remembering what John had told her about them.

"We're Irish Catholic," Murphy said. "Do you think it would be possible to get a priest out here? Five years is a long time to save up for confession, not to mention we're used to going to church every day."

"Actually I had been thinking about it. Would you mind if we ended up with a chaplain instead?" It was sort of a trick question. Elizabeth had no doubts that she could get a Catholic priest out to Atlantis, but would they accept any other religious faiths? It wouldn't be fair to bring in a priest just for them, and there were other religions represented among the expedition members.

"Not at all," Conner said. "As long as we can go to confession, we don't mind." Murphy nodded.

"I'll see what I can do," Elizabeth said, surprised. She shouldn't have been. She knew that John didn't tell her things were fact without making sure that's what they were. She did hope though that whatever seeds the McManus twins were trading were worth what they needed.

"Jumper three is up for a trip," Romeo said. "You can go as soon as everyone is ready."

"Meet back here in an hour?" Murphy asked as he and his brother stood up. "That'll give us time to file a flight plan with Atlantis control." Everyone agreed and left to get ready save for Elizabeth who had the last two members of ART-1 to track down for their reports on mud world.


	13. The Mila Poppaaem

Five weeks total; one week in the Daedalus infirmary, one week under the care of Doctor Beckett in Atlantis and another three weeks back in the Daedalus infirmary, that's how long Steven Caldwell had been under the torturous control of doctors. He was thankful to the doctors that he was still alive, and to the McManus brothers that his body was under his control once more, but he was more than ready to be rid of the doctors once they reached Earth. The brothers he wasn't nearly finished with.

After the required debriefing, which was a torture he'd much rather have done without although he was well aware of exactly why it was necessary, Steven found himself flying to Boston. He'd managed to stay awake long enough the first week to thank Conner and Murphy for saving his life, and he'd gotten some information from them on their lives when they'd lived in the States. They had three friends that they'd left letters for in Boston; Doc, Duffy and Dolly. Doc was an elderly man, and Steven wouldn't be able to talk to him, but Duffy and Dolly were detectives with the Boston Police. They'd know what Steven could do for the men who had freed him from the hell of being trapped in his own body while that fucking snake was in control.

Steven was able to find them at their station house. "Detectives Dolly and Duffy?" he asked.

"Ya, whatcha want?" Dolly answered, not looking up from his computer and the report he was typing in.

"My name is Colonel Steven Caldwell. I transported three of your friends to a remote military base." At hearing this, the two detectives jerked their heads up. "They saved my life on the way out. Is there somewhere we can talk?" Steven was mostly recovered, but he still had trouble with his voice. The snake hadn't bothered to be considerate on its way out and as a result his throat had taken a lot of damage. Steven was just glad that it was quiet enough in the room that he didn't have to try and yell to get their attention.

"Sure," Duffy said. "Come with us."

In the detective's car Steven said, after running a bug check with a piece of tech he'd borrowed, "Just drive around, we're safe enough from being overheard here."

"So, you heard the boys pray?" Dolly asked with a smirk on his face. There was a certain look that someone saved by the Saints had, and this guy had it all over his face. He was in the front seat with Duffy driving and had twisted so that he could look at Steven in the backseat.

Steven nodded. "As my men were pulling me out to get me to the infirmary for emergency surgery," he told them. "The base Conner, Murphy and Romeo were sent to is extremely classified. I could go to jail just for mentioning its name to you, so I won't. What I will tell you is what I can. The base is extremely isolated. There are only two ways to reach the base. My ship is one of them.

"One thing that you need to know and I'll leave it up to you whether or not you pass it on to their families, is that people like the brothers who stay on that base for more than six months don't want to leave it when their time is up. I've seen people that you'd swear on your grandmother's grave, that there was no way they'd ever last six months, practically beg to be allowed to stay. There is something about that base that if you survive it, ties you there for the rest of your life."

"You're serious?" Duffy asked, glancing at Steven in the mirror.

Steven grimaced. "They're like Sheppard. He'd rather slit his own wrists than leave that base. Even if the government pulled everyone else out, he'd find a way to stay. Beckett, McKay, all the others like them, they're the same way. They'd rather die than leave that place."

"That doesn't make any sense," Dolly said.

"I know it doesn't because you have some vital pieces of information missing. Just please understand that I can't tell you what those are. I don't do treason." The detectives nodded, frustrated but understanding Steven's position. "I need to ship things out there for them so that they can build a life there. That's why I'm talking to you. I don't know what they need, hopefully you do," Steven explained. He pulled out a small notebook, obviously prepared to take notes.

"You're serious about this," Duffy said. He'd thought that Caldwell was going to be springing a joke of some kind on them, but now he was realizing that there was no punch line.

"Those two men saved me from a fate that was beyond my worst nightmare, and I'm a combat vet. Whatever they need, I'll get to them somehow."

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Teyla and Ronon watched from the secondary seats in the cockpit of jumper three as Conner and Murphy piloted the jumper to the mainland. They had become used to how much a part of the jumper John was as he sat in the pilot's seat. What they had never seen before was how both Conner and Murphy seemed joined not only to the small ship, but to each other as well. They did not need to speak to each other, even the small gestures that they normally seemed to use in the place of communication with each other was too slow and they moved in perfect unison. It was like their very thoughts moved from man to machine to man and back again faster than they should have been able to comprehend. It was enough to make both of them freeze in fear of distracting either twin and disrupting whatever it was that was happening.

The jumper landed in the space that had been designated as the landing pad and the twins removed their hands from the controls. "Woah," they said, shaking their heads a little. Conner ran his fingers through his hair, while Murphy scrubbed his face.

"What did you two do?" Ronon asked. He really wanted to know because this seemed to be the same sort of communication that they used when they'd fought him at the party. "Because that was what Sheppard calls freaky." Teyla nodded.

"No shit," Murphy said. "That wasn't…It was like it took our connection and…bypassed it with something faster."

"We're twins; we've known each other since before we were born. We know every move each other makes and when they're made. I'd think something at the jumper and it was like…" Conner trailed off, completely unable to express what had happened.

"We've always had a talent for synchronicity, but that's like a circuit that only touches when it wants to. The jumper made the circuit work all the time," Murphy said.

"Aye, we must have been doing it when we touched the controls," Conner nodded, still stunned. A glance and they shook themselves, shoving the eerie feeling away. "Well, we're here. Are you sure you want us to do this Teyla?" he asked, a little concerned.

"Yes, this is what my people have chosen," Teyla said firmly. Her spirit had been restored by the knowledge that although she carried the taint of the Wraith, there was nothing within her that had given in to it, and there was a chance she could have a child with no taint at all. "We have accepted some refuges from other worlds. It is always a concern that they are not the most welcome of people. As all will be brought before the mila poppaaem, no one can say that they have been singled out for any reason."

"That makes sense," Murphy said. The twins knelt down, crossing themselves and saying a swift prayer. Then they stood up, grabbed their pea coats and gestured for Teyla and Ronon to lead the way.

Halling had been waiting for Teyla to bring the mila poppaaem ever since she had brought the news of their arrival in Atlantis. So when one of the children burst into his workshop crying that Teyla had arrived with Ronon and two strangely dressed Earth born, he sent the child to gather everyone in the village together. It was easy to see that the child was right, these were Earth born. Their clothing was similar to that which he'd seen Colonel Sheppard wear when he was not in his uniform, pants called jeans, the tea shirts that all of them seemed to wear, and the sunglasses that Sheppard wore often, but that was where the similarity ended. These two wore black fabric coats and long necklaces, something that he had thought only Earth born women wore. They were also armed much more heavily than the Marines, something that he had expected.

"Halling, this is Conner and Murphy McManus," Teyla said introducing the men. "They are twins, which means they are the result of a single pregnancy. Their ancestors were the mila poppaaem."

"Welcome to our village," Halling said as he shook their hands.

"Thank you for having us," Conner said gravely. "Are you sure you wish to do this?"

"This is your last chance to back out. No one will think any less of you for doing so," Murphy said just as seriously.

These were two men Teyla had described as constantly laughing and joking? Halling nodded. "We are certain. It is our honor to be the first to welcome the mila poppaaem back to Pegasus." He was grateful that they knew to take this seriously. As it was they talked like Doctor Beckett did, and that was enough to relax those who had been nervous.

They took off their sunglasses and began, carefully walking through the small crowd. Murphy stopped by Jinto and Halling stiffened, but he merely leaned over and whispered something in the teen's ear. Jinto blushed bright red and nodded. This pattern continued. Often they would stop, and say something, most often to the children and young adults, but occasionally to one of the older people. The reaction was usually a blush or a ducked head with a nod or a verbal agreement. Occasionally there would be a giggle from one of the smaller children.

But Halling was waiting for them to reach a man he had been watching for some time now. It was nothing he could bring to his mind, but there was an air around him that made Halling uneasy. It was because of this man that Halling had insisted on having the village examined by these mila poppaaem. If Teyla was right, and she usually was, these men had the gift to see evil, which had not been seen since the Ancestors left this galaxy. Halling needed to make sure that his people were safe. It took Halling a moment to see the pattern. Teyla caught on much sooner. They were moving so that the man Halling had been worried about would be the last one they looked at, and they would be in between him and the rest of the Athosians when they did.

Murphy patted the last child on the head and both he and his brother faced the one man that they'd spotted right off. If this was the reason that Teyla and Halling had wanted them to check out their people, then they were right. He'd hoped not to face this sort of evil here, where children were the most precious thing a small community could have and the people of this galaxy knew it. "Pedophile," he said, his voice echoing with the man's doom.

"Child thief," Conner said, his eyes going from sky blue to the grey of a stormy sky.

"Child killer," Murphy snarled. The look on the man's face said it all, the charges were true. He broke and ran, the brothers chasing after him. Murphy tackled him; something Halling had only seen when Sheppard had introduced the children to his game of football. In an instant, all three men were down on the ground and the brothers were beating the man, giving more hits than they were taking. It didn't last long.

Conner dragged the man back to the village square, while Murphy told the women of the village to take the children to where they wouldn't get hurt. "But I want to see!" one small boy protested.

Murphy sat back on his heels. "This isn't going to be like when the Wraith take someone. It's going to be loud, very messy and scary." Conner was dragging the man into place, upright on his knees, smacking him when he protested. "You need to listen to your ma. She knows best whether or not you should watch." With that he went to stand on Conner's right, directly behind their latest target. Murphy put his right pistol to the man's head; right next to Conner's left.

"And shepherds we shall be, For Thee my Lord for Thee, Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, That our feet may swiftly carry out Thy commands, So we shall flow a river forth unto Thee, And teeming with souls shall it ever be, E Nomini Patri, et Fili, et Spiritu Sancti." Two shots rang out, and the body hit the ground. They would not give him the death he deserved with the children watching.


	14. A problem down in the lab

Conner, Murphy, Teyla and Ronon returned from the mainland pleased with the results of their trip. The Athosian children, and the children of other worlds should that particular refuge have tried to return to his unspeakable ways, were safe. "You and your fucking rope," Murphy teased. The rope had been a gift from the grateful parents of some of the Athosian children, those least schooled in the bantos rods, and thus the most vulnerable.

"It's a damned useful thing to have and you know it Rambo," Conner teased in return. He shifted the bundle higher on his shoulder as it threatened to slip.

"What you said when you killed him, that's what Jacob was trying to say in the video right?" Ronon asked.

"Aye, like we said, he did grand for a three year old," Murphy said, the pride in his voice clear for all to hear.

"It's our family prayer," Conner explained as they left the Jumper Bay and went to check in with whoever was in the control room. "It's been passed down from father to son for generations. It goes so far back that we don't know when it started. We say it for the souls of the dead, and to remind us of our promises to God."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN COLONEL SHEPPARD ISN'T ON ATLANTIS! WE NEED HIM TO TURN IT OFF!" The frantic voice sent the four of them running into the control room where a stern Doctor Weir was staring down a tall, thin scientist.

"Colonel Sheppard is directing a rescue mission. Doctor McKay and Lieutenant Griffin are trapped inside a malfunctioning jumper that is sinking to the bottom of the Lantian ocean. I am not going to disturb his concentration because you have a non-lethal Ancient robot shooting at anyone who comes into the labs. None of you are even stunned! Now get out!" she pointed towards the door.

"But Doctor Weir! We can't get in to the labs at all! It keeps driving us out! And those laser shots really hurt!" Doctor Talbiut, he had a name tag on his lab coat of all things, was practically stomping his feet in frustration.

Conner and Murphy glanced at each other, their usual method of communication back to normal after their inadvertent short circuiting during the jumper flight out to the mainland. "Doctor Weir, we'll take care of this," Murphy said. They had realized that they would be almost useless in helping Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Zelenka in their efforts. The one thing that they could do was deal with the sniveling little asshole. He and Conner took the scientist by the arms and began dragging the man out. "Come on, you big baby. It can't be that bad."

"Is McKay hurt?" Ronon asked, dismissing the scientist from his mind. It was one of the new ones and he had no doubts that McKay would be dealing with the idiot when he got back. It would probably be very entertaining to watch as McKay cut the guy into ribbons with just his words. It would also help McKay to recover from whatever was happening to him now. He'd have to make sure that the brothers didn't take McKay's entertainment away from him before he got back.

Elizabeth turned to the other half of ART-1. Unhappily she said, "I don't know. We've only had one message from them before communications were cut off. At that time they were alive, but the jumper was sinking. Radek says that according to the charts he's found the depth of the sea there is from 2,000 to 6,000 feet deep. As far as we know a jumper can only function to a depth of 1,000 feet. We don't know how much damage there is to Rodney's jumper. There's nothing we can do now but wait for John to tell us he needs us to do something or that he's bringing them home. He and Radek have taken another jumper and gone after them."

"What are they planning to do?" Teyla asked quietly. It was not unusual to go from triumph to disaster quickly in Pegasus, but usually that was because of the Wraith. Where she had been feeling the joy of knowing the children were safe, was now a deadened lump of fear for Rodney.

"The jumper that John and Radek took is equipped with a cable and basically a giant magnet. It's what we use to lower the 302 into the Jumper Bay. John's plan is to go down to 1,000 feet, lower the cable, attach it to Rodney's jumper and use that to haul it to a safe depth for our divers to get Rodney and Griffin out." Elizabeth was rather pale, after saying the plan out loud it echoed with everything that could go wrong.

"Then Ronon should help with this robot in the labs," Teyla said, giving her teammate a look. "I will stay here and make certain that there are no more interruptions so that you may concentrate on the rescue." There was no doubt from the look on her face that Teyla would make good use of her bantos rods to make certain that no one interfered.

"Thank you Teyla, Ronon," Elizabeth said, knowing that she could trust these two to deal with anything that came up. Ronon nodded to the women and then took off running after the twins.

"Now then, tell us about this big, bad robot Doctor Talbiut." Ronon could hear as he ran to catch up with Conner and Murphy. A minute later he dropped to a walk right behind Conner as he reflected that Teyla knew him very well, although he hadn't been part of her team for very long. He wouldn't have been able to stand sitting around and waiting for McKay to be rescued. This robot on the other hand, he could not only do something about, but he'd probably get to shoot it too.

The huffy noise the scientist made had Murphy rolling his eyes, and Conner restraining himself from smacking the man. They weren't idiots no matter what the man thought. "It was deemed safe for study. Someone had already initialized it for us and we were studying the programming. Someone must have triggered something because it started shooting at everyone in the lab. No one can get it turned off. We had Major Lorne and Doctor Beckett come in and try, but they had to leave, for the rescue no doubt. I don't know what you two think you can do. We need the Colonel," Doctor Talbiut sneered. He tried to extract himself from the twin's grasp but failed miserably.

"You just let us worry about that," Murphy said. This wasn't one of the scientists he and his brother had met on the Daedalus. He'd seen the man at a distance, but that was it. It was entirely possible that the man hadn't heard about them, but Murphy really doubted it. 'He probably shut his ears off after hearing we were ex-prisoners and never bothered to find out just why ex-prisoners were being brought out to Atlantis.' Behind the man's head and out of his sight, Murphy rolled his eyes once more at his brother. Conner gave a slight nod. Murphy grinned at his brother's agreement. The twit was annoying; too bad he wasn't theirs to take care of.

When they reached the hallway outside the labs, they could hear lots of talking among the large group of scientists but it looked like little, if anything, was being done. "Alright, where's your robot?" Conner called. He and Murphy let go of Doctor Talbiut after making sure that he wasn't going to run back to the control room to try and bother Doctor Weir again.

One of the scientists that they did know, Sarah Blake, called, "Conner! Murphy! I thought you guys had gone to the mainland."

"We just got back. Heard you had a little robot problem," Murphy said, pulling out one of the twigs that Doctor Beckett had given him. Not only did it help with his habit of chewing on his nails and fingers, it was healthy as the twigs were high in certain vitamins and minerals that were difficult to get on Lantia. Conner had a supply as well as Murphy had told him it helped when he wanted a cigarette.

Sarah laughed, the lights glinting off her glasses. From her single long braid down her back to her peace sign tattoo, Sarah Blake looked like the aging hippy she was. That did not stop her from being a top notch chemical engineer. She was the replacement for some scientist that hadn't been able to cut it here in Atlantis. Murphy thought it had something to do with an attitude problem, but he wasn't sure. She pointed at an open lab door. "It's in there and if one of you could turn it off we'd be grateful."

Sarah Blake was not an empty headed twit. She wouldn't be here if she was, but neither did she have any of the problems that some of the other scientists seemed to have with their attitudes. For all that this was Atlantis; Blake had a very down to earth attitude and a lot of common sense. So as Murphy could see that she was in no way alarmed, in fact she was downright amused; he didn't bother trying to be stealthy. He just stuck his head in the doorway to see what all the fuss was about. "Well, what is it?" Conner asked, trying to peer around him.

Murphy started to laugh. "It's a fucking toy!" He stared at the robot marching along one of the lab benches in a regular patrol.

"What?!" Conner exclaimed. "No, it can't be." Murphy continued to laugh, nodding his head. "Let me see!" Murphy moved to the side and Conner stepped fully into the room. The robot was all of fifteen inches tall, and was obviously meant to be a representative of an Ancient military officer. Its uniform was a very vivid cream with tan and green edging. It had black boots and a tiny laser gun that it had thrown up on its shoulder like a rifle. "It's a fucking G.I. Joe!" Conner laughed, until it shot him with its tiny laser. "OW! Son of a bitch!" Conner swore, holding on to his side.

"Conn!?" Murphy had stopped laughing and had drawn two of his pistols the instant he heard his brother's cry of pain. He had thought that the toy's weapon was harmless. If that thing had hurt his brother he was going to blow it into very tiny pieces!

"I'm alright," Conner reassured his brother. "The little fucker got me in my right side. It stings like the devil."

Murphy sighed in relief that there was no further damage to an already sore spot. Although they had fully healed from the wounds they had received in bringing Louie to the Lord's justice, getting hit in the same spot had to hurt. "Alright you little fucker, enough is enough," Conner said. He walked over to the toy, getting shot repeatedly but ignoring it other than to swear each time the tiny laser bolts hit him. Murphy was impressed with his brother's inventiveness, not that he'd ever tell him that.

When Conner reached the lab bench, the toy tried to dodge and run away, but he slapped his hand down on its head and said, "Off!" Immediately the toy powered down. Conner picked it up and walked out of the lab. He faced the crowd, holding the toy up. "Ok, whose little project is this?" A hand went up from the back and a rather sheepish young man came up to Conner. He handed the toy over to the scientist, and shaking his head left with Murphy and Ronon.

"Let's go see if there's any news," Murphy suggested.

"Yeah, this wasn't even worth the walk down here," Ronon said, disgusted at how cowardly the scientists had acted.

"Oh I don't know," Conner said. "If they can actually figure that toy out enough to build another one it'd be a great present to send to Jacob."


	15. An offworld trip?

ART-2, (Major Evan Lorne, Doctor David Parish, Lieutenant Cadman and Sergeant Carver) along with a small group of Athosian traders were on Hitewilf, a planet with an underground cave system that was deep enough to be safe from Wraith attack. The stargate was located within the caves, along with the resident population and a thriving interplanetary market. The Athosians had a stall where they were selling spices, teas and other things that Lorne had no clue about. He and his team were there to provide pack mule service as well as doing a little shopping of their own. So after helping to set up the stall, Lorne sent Cadman and Carver off with orders to report in every hour. He took Parish off in the opposite direction. He knew the Athosians would do more business if they weren't watching over their shoulders looking intimidating.

By the end of the 'day' Parish had found a dozen different plants and Lorne had found some minerals and other things that he could use to mix up some homemade paint. Cadman had come up with a few Ancient artifacts, all broken but useful for salvageable parts, and Carver had found a source of paper, something that quite a few people back in Atlantis would trade dearly for. All in all, Lorne considered it a good trip; at least he had until they got back to the Athosians and found out that there was a diplomatic group waiting for them. It seemed that word had gotten out that not only were the Lantians interested in a ZMP, but that they would trade for words written by the Ancestors. The Chulaon were willing to begin negotiations for just such a trade. They told Lorne that they had an extensive library filled with just such writings and that they were willing to allow a few Lantians access if an agreement could be reached.

Cadman did a scan of the Chulaon behind their backs to ensure that they were clean of any explosives, radiation or other hazard. She nodded to Lorne, indicating that they were clean. "Well, we certainly don't have any objections to peaceful trades," Lorne said, putting on his best diplomat's face. He hated this part of his job, but they really couldn't pass up on this offer if it was genuine. Lorne carefully herded his expanded group back to the 'gate and there had Parish dial up Atlantis.

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Negotiations were Elizabeth's Weir's life's work. Bringing together different groups together in a peaceful manner and getting them to agree on anything other than wanting to destroy each other was a joy. That did not necessarily mean that all peaceful negotiations weren't a pain in the ass, especially when she had to give in to yet another tradition that cemented her status as the ruler of Atlantis to the rest of the Pegasus galaxy. She loved being the leader of the Atlantis Expedition; the Queen of Atlantis, not so much.

Elizabeth entered the chapel quietly, not wishing to disturb anyone who may have been making use of it. She knew that the McManus twins and their friend Romeo used the chapel every morning, but others had begun to make use of it as well at odd hours. It brought home to her that here was yet another something that she had neglected to think of when she put the expedition together. This wasn't the first time it had happened, of course, but at least she could easily correct this mistake. She had already put in a request for a chaplain along with a list of the religions that were currently represented among the expedition members. She didn't know who actually practiced their religion, but whoever was sent should be aware of what might be required of them.

As she had expected, the twins were kneeling at the altar, deep in prayer. Elizabeth waited, as much to put off what she had to do as it was out of respect. While she waited, she looked around at the changes that had been made. There were now four benches facing the altar. They looked like Athosian work along with the two candles in holders on the altar itself. There was a simple wooden cross hung on the wall above the altar as well. Combined with the Atlantis architecture it made for a very soothing atmosphere.

"Doctor Weir?"

Elizabeth started. She hadn't realized that she'd drifted off. "Mr. McManus, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were done."

"Conner," Conner insisted. "If you keep being formal, it's going to be hard to figure out if you're talking to me or my brother."

Elizabeth smiled ruefully. There was something about these men that made her want to relax and smile, even when what they did made her stomach turn. "Conner then. I need to talk to the three of you about an off world trip."

"Let's head out to the gardens then," Conner pointed to the exit that his brother was taking.

"Ok," Elizabeth said, and followed the men outside. The gardens were more extensive than she had realized, although having sat dormant for 10,000 years, none of the plants had survived. Romeo was out in the middle of one garden bed, removing the mummified remains of a bush, and Murphy was stripping down to his jeans in order to join him. Three beds had already been cleared and turned over. "What are you going to do with the beds when you've finished clearing them?"

"We'll be planting grains, vegetables, herbs, basically everything we can get seeds for from home. Romeo's been talking about what he needs to make a decent salsa." They walked over to the garden bed and Romeo and Murphy greeted them. "Ok Doctor Weir, what do you need to talk to us about?" Conner asked.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and hoped that they would understand what she was about to say. "In this galaxy, Atlantis in not only the City of the Ancestors, it is also a sovereign nation in its own right. The people of this galaxy are determined to continue to treat us that way. In order to make the sort of treaties that we need to survive, I've had to go along with that. Under normal conditions what they call us doesn't impact how we do things." The men were nodding, understanding her reasoning.

"Earlier today we had a diplomatic visit from the Chulaon. They want to trade access to an Ancient library in return for medical assistance. It's a common trade item for us, so I'm more than willing to make the deal. However, to formalize it the Chulaon want me to come to their homeworld for a ritual celebration, and somehow they know about the three of you."  
"What do you mean?" Murphy wanted to know.

"They wanted the mila poppaaem to be part of my escort," Elizabeth said flatly.

"So what are they expecting us to do?" Conner asked.

"They are expecting the three of you to be an Ancient order of knights that no longer exists!" Elizabeth said, angry that they were so nonchalant about impersonating Ancients.

"All mila poppaaem means is our family Doctor Weir," Conner tried to explain. "The cathedral proves that. We found inscriptions in several places that come damned close to matching our family's path. The concepts are identical; it's just the wording that's changed over the last 10,000 years."

"Destroy all that which is evil, so that which is good may flourish," quoted Murphy. "Destroy evil wherever you may find it, so that good may spread throughout the worlds."

"Evil man; dead man," Romeo said. "No man who chooses evil shall be allowed to live."

"There's also an inscription describing the oath that a mila poppaaem would take when taking on adult responsibilities. That oath is almost word for word our family's prayer." Conner shrugged. "It surprised the hell out of us to tell you the truth, but if they want us we have no objections to going. We just need to know what they want us to do."

Sometimes Elizabeth really hated the Ancients, usually when they had done something that was coming back to bite her or her people on the ass. "Do you think you could play bodyguard without killing anyone for a day or two?"

"You mean stand around and look intimidating? I think we can manage that," Conner laughed.

"We leave at o eight hundred tomorrow," Elizabeth said, trying to hold on to her temper.

"As far as killing goes, how about we promise not to kill anyone we don't need to?" Murphy said, chewing on yet another twig.

"Since that's probably as good as I'm going to get from the three of you, we'll see just how well you can keep your word." With that, Elizabeth turned and left.

"Ok, now that was supremely bitchy," Romeo pointed out.

"She don't like us Rome because she thinks what we do is the exact opposite of what she does. She tries to get people to work together for the good of everyone. She doesn't understand that we just destroy the evil that would destroy her work in worse ways than we ever could," Murphy said as he bent over and began pulling up long dead plants.

"But you're right," Conner said, as he too began to strip down to his jeans, "she can be very bitchy."

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'It's amazing,' Steven Caldwell thought as he picked out his lunch, 'just how much you can put inside the tiny open spots of a regular dresser drawer.' Like every other soldier who'd ever gone over seas for long stretches of time, he'd gotten extremely good at stuffing his pack with all sorts of goodies like instant coffee and cookie dough mix. He'd never tried it with a regular dresser drawer though. As captain of the Daedalus, his bunk was a traditional captain's bed with six drawers underneath. It was a wealth of space on a space ship.

Inside those six drawers he'd managed to get seeds for every kind of vegetable that the local store carried, along with flowers, herbs, bulbs of garlic, and strawberry plants. Even if the brothers didn't like those particular foods, Caldwell knew that someone in the expedition, probably one of the botanists, would. There was nothing like having goods to trade when there were no stores around. He'd seen the shopping lists and requisition orders that had come out of Atlantis. He knew what was going on, but he chose not to say anything. Instead, he was helping where he could.

That was the real reason for the three stasis pods he'd had Novak install in the smallest cargo hold. Officially, they were there as a way of testing how well people could travel in stasis without a virtual reality hook up. In reality, Caldwell was using them to transport different animals to Atlantis. It was amazing what could be bought privately. One newborn female calf that he'd gotten free from a dairy, one two month old female pig that he'd gotten for a hundred dollars, and one six month old female cat he'd gotten from a pet store were the subjects in the stasis pods for the first trip to Atlantis. He also had a bundle of AI sperm tubes frozen in the infirmary labs. They were marked as biological specimens for Doctor Beckett.

"Father McManus, I'm glad you could join us on this trip," Caldwell said as he sat down at one of the tables near a porthole. The Catholic priest wasn't his doing. Doctor Weir had put in a request for a chaplain and someone, somewhere along the way had found what had to be the only member of the McManus family who was a priest and serving in the United States armed forces.

Father Nevan Loaghaire McManus had served for the last twenty years in combat areas all around Earth. There wasn't a single religion that he hadn't studied up on and he could perform the general rituals for at least most of them. "I'm just glad to have the chance to serve Colonel, and if it gets me a chance to spend time with some of my family, all the better."

"You know Conner and Murphy McManus then?" Caldwell asked. He hadn't been sure, the McManus family was rather a large one from what he'd found out.

Father Nevan laughed long and loud. "Everyone knows the twins Colonel. My family may be spread out all over the world, but we all come from the same place and we're all frequent visitors to our home grounds. Most of us spend most of our lives there. The rest of us usually find a spot near the village to retire to."

"They're twins? I thought Conner was the older brother," Caldwell asked, curious.

"That's the 65,000 dollar question Colonel. Only one person knows and Annabelle isn't talking. It frustrates the ever living hell out of the boys."


	16. Bad feeling

If they hadn't seen people coming and going through the stargate on a regular basis, Conner and Murphy probably would have balked at going through it the first time. As it was, they were able to calmly step through flanking Elizabeth when she followed the first three Marines that were going on this mission through.

The timing of this treaty and celebration sucked. ART-1 had already left on a mission that was scheduled to last several days. Elizabeth and Radek had to go to evaluate the library and to finalize the treaty. Doctor Beckett was going to triage their medical needs and what his people could do about them. That left Lorne in charge of Atlantis by himself; and Lieutenant Cadman in charge of the Marine escort. It was not the ideal set up.

Nevertheless, it was what they had so they did their best to make it work. Lieutenant Cadman and two Marines went first to secure the stargate and surrounding area. Elizabeth went next, with Murphy and Conner on either side of her and Romeo following. Doctor Zelenka and Doctor Beckett followed Romeo and were themselves followed in turn by the last three Marines. This put one Marine with every civilian, a precaution should things go drastically wrong.

As was usual in the Pegasus galaxy, the stargate was at a distance from the local settlement. Conner wasn't used to meeting the local powerhouses unless it was to send them to the Lord for judgment. So he hadn't been altogether sure just what to expect, but he was fairly certain that the group waiting to escort them to the settlement wasn't it.

The first thing that struck Conner was the appalling lack of color coordination. Every color of the rainbow was represented and in such a way as if to compete for who could produce the most number of clashing items. It made him extremely grateful that his role was that of intimidating bodyguard because it meant that he was wearing his sunglasses and he could keep them on. Everyone who wasn't was going to have one hell of a headache before long.

The second thing he noticed was that the group greeting them was composed of all men. There were any number of reasonable explanations for this, but an unsettled feeling began growing in his gut that had nothing to do with the local's lack of good taste. The head toady, and he couldn't be anything else the way he was kissing up to Elizabeth, was going through the motions of welcoming them to the planet while at the same time trying to get them away from the 'gate. It was a reasonable precaution, but so was the shielded jumper that Lorne had ordered to follow them through the 'gate.

Conner wasn't sure that Elizabeth knew about the jumper, but the Marines and the Saints did. The bodyguard detail was only supposed to be for looks, but all three of them were taking Elizabeth's request seriously. Especially since, appallingly bad taste or not, most of these weren't terribly good men. None of them had the marks that signaled total corruption, but nearly all of them had marks that showed varying degrees of evil. "These lesser forms of filth have not yet pushed the bounds and crossed over," muttered Murphy in Spanish.

"But someone has invited us to make sure that those who have will reap what they have sown," Conner said just as quietly in the same language. As linguists they had both noticed that the only Earth language that was translated by the 'gates was English, which meant that they could use other languages to keep their conversations to themselves, or share them with only their own group if they chose.

"Let's get the lay of the land before you two start sending more souls to the river, ok?" Romeo prompted quietly. "We need to make sure that we only send the ones that we have to."

"We remember Rome," Conner said. "But if these are the sorts that are sent when they need help, it doesn't bode well for anyone. Sooner or later they're going to push us into a corner that we'll have to fight our way out of. Make sure you keep your eyes open."

"Another Chekov thing, do you think?" Murphy asked as they began to head towards the local city.

"Oh probably, or if not they'll think of something else to put us in the same position," Conner said sourly. He hated being reminded of the morning he'd been chained to a toilet while two Russian mobsters had marched his brother off to die. Those idiots had learned the hard way that there was nothing one twin would not do to defend the other. "Just try not to do anything that would get you a bullet to the brain from one of these lackeys."

"As long as you don't end up chained to another toilet," Murphy agreed.

"That was one well aimed toilet, if I do say so myself," Conner said as they walked down the street. He noticed that although there were women and children out, there were no women younger than Elizabeth; and no female children older than ten if he had to guess an age. The feeling in his gut grew a little darker.

"Aye, but you didn't come out of that one so well," Murphy said. He caught Conner's eye and twitched a finger in the direction of a group of young men. That particular group was watching Cadman far too closely for Murphy's comfort.

Conner gave a barely perceptible nod to show that he'd seen it as well. "Oh I don't know, I only limped for a day. That's not bad for jumping off a five story building." There were armed men everywhere. It looked as bad as the Guardia in the North back home, if not worse; only these men didn't seem to be working together. They weren't dressed in any fashion that could be said to be a uniform.

"That's because you weren't the one that had to haul your heavy ass down to the hospital," Murphy retorted. They were coming up on a large building, presumably where the local government did business. It was surrounded by men that were obviously some type of military.

"Well if things do go to shit, we've got a doc with us," Romeo said. He too, noticed things that weren't sitting too well with him.

They were escorted into a suite and left to themselves with instructions that they had an hour to refresh themselves before the first round of negotiations would begin. Once the toady had left Elizabeth turned around, but did not do more than draw a breath to begin chastising the Saints before Conner interrupted her. "Stick to Spanish, they can't understand that," he said harshly.

"Cadman, stick with Doctor Weir," Murphy told the Lieutenant. "It looks like the two of you are going to be in the most danger here."

"I noticed," Cadman said in passable Spanish. "Any thoughts on why we were the focus of all the attention? The group that contacted us didn't pay me any more attention than anyone else did."

"My guess is that this is a male dominated society," Elizabeth offered, once she realized that Conner actually had a real reason for his insistence on speaking only Spanish and for the conversation that they'd had on the way in. "They aren't used to seeing women in positions of power around here."

"No, it's more than that," Murphy disagreed. "If it was only that, we'd have seen more women out on the street. The two of you are the only women we've got with us, and a lot of what I think were the richer men on the street were marked as abusers."

"A lot of them were marked as rapists as well," Conner growled.

"Aye, but not as many as I feared from the group that met us," Murphy said thankfully.

"If that's the case, then it's probably at least condoned here, if not actually legal," Cadman pointed out.  
"Yeah, but that just means that the higher up these guys are, the more likely they are to be our sorta guys," Romeo reminded them.

"How they treat each other has nothing to do with us. We're here to see if we can trade medical assistance for access to that library," Elizabeth tried to remind them.

"They're the ones who asked for us to come," Murphy pointed out. "Someone around here must know what that means."  
"We'll have to mark the good men so the others will know," Conner thought out loud. "We don't want them to get hurt if we're pushed into doing our duty."

"Cross 'em," Romeo offered. "Then we'll know not to hit them with friendly fire." The brothers and the Marines nodded. No one wanted to kill an innocent man.

"Just what makes you think you'll be pushed into doing your duty?" Elizabeth demanded, frustrated with their attitude and how willing the Marines seemed to go along with it.

"Call it a gut feeling, doctor. We'll be killing evil men before we leave this place," Murphy grinned. He could already feel the heightened awareness that would take him over building.

Conner noticed that Doctor Beckett and Doctor Zelenka were watching them with completely bewildered looks on their faces, so he quickly recapped the conversation for in Russian for Zelenka. Murphy caught on and did the same for Beckett in Gaelic. Both doctors nodded and told the brothers their own observations, which only added to the lengthening list of signs of abuse.

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Major Lorne ran for the infirmary, cursing his luck. He would be the only command staff member in Atlantis when the Daedalus arrived and had a medical emergency. He charged into the main room of the infirmary only to slide to a halt when he saw Doctor Biro and Colonel Caldwell standing next to a gurney with a priest on it. "What happened sir?" he asked.

"We dropped out of hyperspace and Father McManus hit the deck Major," Caldwell said, obviously worried. He'd gotten to like the jovial and hard hitting priest.

"Any relation to the twins sir?" Lorne asked, suspicious that he knew what had happened.

"Their cousin I think," Caldwell said. "Why?"

Lorne nodded. "Check for high ATA," he told Biro. "At least half of the McManus family is ATA positive sir. Colonel Sheppard's theory is that they've actually bred themselves for it and the psychic gifts that go with it."

"Psychic gifts?" Caldwell asked skeptically.

"When the Ancients were pursuing ascension, they developed psychic talents. The McManus family has the gift of seeing evil. I'll go down to the chair and see if I can get her to quiet down for the Father," Lorne told Caldwell, turning to do just that.

"Don't bother, I'm awake," Father Nevan sat up on the gurney. "I never thought I'd ever hear that. They say the Lord has a voice of thunder. It was just a bit much on top of being greeted by your lady, lad."

"I'm Major Lorne, I'm second in command of the military personnel here. Let me guess, you've been called as a shepherd?" Lorne asked, not at all surprised, not with the evil that was running around this galaxy. Caldwell just looked back and forth between the two confused.

"I'm Father Nevan and I see you've been talking to the twins," Father Nevan said.

"Yes and no," Lorne said. "If Doctor Biro has cleared you, I'll show you what I mean."

Biro nodded. "He'll be fine. I'll see him later for his baseline physical."

Knowing that the doctor was not pleased to be in charge during the Daedalus delivery of new personnel, Lorne quickly got Caldwell and Father Nevan out of the infirmary. It was just a transport and a short walk to the cathedral, which impressed both men as they walked in. "This is a fine place you've got here Major," Father Nevan said, relaxing fully for the first time.

"You don't know the half of it," Lorne grinned. "This is your family's tower. You'll find inscriptions written in Ancient around the doors and windows and up there," he pointed at the first level of balconies, "you'll find classrooms and gyms with your family's prayer and mandates inscribed on the walls. Above that are the living quarters. There are all sorts of rooms dedicated to your family's path throughout the tower. Your family has been doing the work of fighting evil for the last ten thousand years. Now that's dedication."


	17. Celebration or Disaster?

"This is fucking boring," Murphy muttered to Conner. They were standing three feet behind Elizabeth's chair as she, Doctor Zelenka and Doctor Beckett hammered out the treaty with the Chulaon's head council, which looked to be something out of a more medieval time with people being lords of this and lady of that. It was here that they saw their first women in a seat of power. They had learned that the women had all inherited those positions, that was no different from how the men had, but these women were all older than Elizabeth, unlike the men who were all ages, although the youngest was at least as old as Romeo.

"Aye, but can you figure out why these men treat these ladies with respect, but half of them abuse their own wives?" Conner asked. To amuse themselves they were switching languages at random every time one of them spoke, only leaving out English, Latin and Ancient on the off chance that one of the Chulaons spoke Ancient.

Murphy made a face that no one but his brother could have seen. He would have snorted too, but he was trying to behave himself. "'Cause the cowardly fucks aren't married to 'em. We've seen that before. Did you notice that the ones marked as rapists, only go after their own wives?"

"I noticed a few on the street like that too. Now why is that do you suppose? Even just walking through town we should have seen at least one marked that he went after someone other than his wife," Conner mused. "It's just the law of averages."

"They keep the women locked up," Murphy realized after a moment of thought. "The fuckers can't get at them. That's why they were staring at Cadman. Remember, we're just seeing the respectable people here. No woman Cadman's age was out on the street, probably wouldn't be allowed out of the house until well after she was married."

"Aye, with several children running around her feet, several servants to help her look after them, and bodyguards following her every move," Conner said. He shifted a little forward when one of the young men got a little too close to Cadman for his comfort. He relaxed when the man eased back. "Cadman'd have their balls if that one tried anything with her."

"Nice little trophy they'd make for her too," Murphy said, amused. "Do you think we brought enough bullets?"

"Did you see how many cases of full clips Lorne shoved into the jumper?" Conner wanted to know. "We've got enough, besides if we run out there's always the zats. Well, it's about damned time they finished." The delegates were now standing up and shaking hands. "Let's go bless the good men, my dear brother."

The hosts, a lady something or other and her husband, gestured to a set of doors that they said would lead to a banquet hall where the celebration would take place. Knowing that was the best chance they were likely to get, Conner and Murphy walked ahead of everyone else and positioned themselves at either side of the set of doors. They got more than a few confused looks from the Chulaon, but as no one from Atlantis was so much as blinking at the twins' actions, they seemed to figuratively shrug and simply got on with moving everyone through the doors.

As each of the Chulaon walked by them, Conner and Murphy drew a cross on their foreheads if they were not corrupt enough to be targets. For their own amusement, they did the same with their own people. After all, it wouldn't do to have their own people shot just because they weren't crossed. To their surprise, Elizabeth was amused as well. When Murphy crossed her it was the most pleasant they had ever seen her as she fought to keep a smile off of her face.

The next few hours were filled with a sort of roving feast where servants mingled with the guests carrying trays of food and drink. The twins crossed them or not as well. "I think they're the priests of some kind of primitive cult. Look how they're dressed," one young man told the group that he was with. "They don't even speak a language the Ancestors can translate!" he said with a laugh.

As seemed to be the usual case here, everyone with him was male, only the older men were accompanied by women. Conner paused in the middle of crossing the young popinjay. "Lad, first off you'd better make sure that you know what you're talking about before you shoot your fucking mouth off. Second, make sure the people you're trying to insult actually don't speak the language before you insult them to their face. And third, me brother and I are mila poppaaem. So you'd better be damned grateful that we're crossing you," he warned. "You don't want us to be having to fucking kill you now, do you?"

The boy blanched white as a sheet. "Mila poppaaem?" he whispered.

"Aye," Murphy said, crossing one of his friends. "Watch and learn, little boy. Those we don't cross are the ones to stay the fuck away from. Our family has never lost the ability to see evil when the Lord calls." They left the group without crossing one of the boys; one that they could see was an assassin for hire. The fact that he was a killer didn't bother them. They were assassins themselves; but their service was to God, not the highest bidder. It was amusing to see the rest of the young men pull away from him, muttering excuses.

They had just finished marking all of those who were not to be killed when one of the lesser noble types, one that they were hoping to be able to kill, maneuvered Elizabeth and Cadman over to a set of doors leading out to a terrace. He was accompanied by one of his own guards, who grabbed Cadman when he grabbed Elizabeth. The noble pulled Elizabeth through the doors, ignoring the fact that she was fighting him with everything she had. The guard wasn't so lucky. Cadman was beating him to a pulp, going for places that he didn't expect her to.

It didn't take long before Cadman had her assailant by the chin and back of his head, twisting it around to break his neck. Unfortunately, her fight had blocked anyone from going after Elizabeth and her kidnapper; at least as far as far as the Chulaon knew. When he saw what was happening, Murphy hit his radio and instructed the jumper pilot to track Elizabeth's subcu, a homing beacon that Doctor Beckett had put under the skin of everyone who ever went off world.

"Why did she do that?" the man standing next to Conner gasped. "There was no reason to kill him!"

Murphy was the only one close enough to hear his wife mutter, "Good for her." He drew one of his sets of pistols and shot her husband right between the eyes. That signaled a massive shoot out, the Lantians shooting anyone who hadn't been marked by the twins. Murphy and Conner went after the most dangerous; the boy assassin, the rapists, and the murderers.

Conner made his way over to the overturned table the council were ducking and hiding behind. Calmly he shot three of the seven men he could see, leaving the ones who were good men and grabbing the last of the evil ones to drag out from behind the shelter of the table. The guards had tried to fight back, but the Lantians had overwhelming firepower just in their pistols. There had been no need to pull out any of their heavier weapons.

Murphy walked over to Conner and his prisoner. "We don't have enough pennies," he mentioned. He shoved the pistol in his right hand into the back of the head of the prisoner. It was the only one he had left with any bullets in it.

Conner nodded. It was a small problem, but one that was easily dealt with. "Let them prepare the dead according to their own customs. There are enough witnesses here to tell why these men died."

"And why did they die?" one of the men Conner had spared demanded. "Just because Norkhi is making your queen his bride is no reason to commit such a slaughter. You think I did not see that every man here you killed was one you did not bless before? If you don't want Norkhi as your king, then go rescue her! If you get her back before twenty eight days have passed, the marriage is void."

"Of course we didn't fucking cross them," Conner said as he waved his hands at the bodies covering the floors. "You were the fucking idiots who insisted that we come as part of Doctor Weir's escort. What did you think would happen when the mila poppaaem came to your world, that we would let evil men slide simply because of their rank?"

"Kidnapping is no marriage," Murphy spit. "It is a crime, and a particularly vile one at that. Those fuckers died because they were kidnappers, rapists and abusers; a few were murderers, blackmailers and other things as well."

"Even if that bastard did have the ability to keep Doctor Weir from us for more than twenty eight days, he would still never be our king, our leader, or her husband," Cadman said as she walked up to them. The councilman gapped at her. "The leadership falls to Doctor McKay if Doctor Weir is incapacitated. Then to Doctor Zelenka."

"And if he has harmed Elizabeth, a simple bullet to his brain he will not get!" Radek growled. He was tossing and catching small dark object in his hand. "Small pieces of him I will blow off!"

Romeo chuckled. "You don't wanna mess with Doctor Z, man. He's the really dangerous one."

"Let's pray for these men's souls, then go get Doctor Weir," Murphy said. He looked over at the councilman. "I'd suggest you change your laws before we come back. Your rulers are still here and you know we left the good men alive." He and Conner turned back to their prisoner.

"And shepherds we will be/for Thee my Lord, for Thee/Power hath descended forth from thy hand/That our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command/So we shall flow a river forth unto Thee/And teeming with souls shall it ever be/E Nomini Patri et Fili, et Spiritu Sancti." Two shots rang out.

The twins turned and marched towards the terrace doors. "Sergeant Gates, have they stopped moving yet?" Conner asked, tapping his radio.

"Yes, but they're in the middle of a lot of people. I can't get a clear shot. I don't know who is in on the kidnapping and who isn't."

"Come and get us, but keep an eye on Doctor Weir's position," Murphy ordered.

"I am coming," demanded Radek.

Murphy glanced at his brother, and Conner nodded back. "I guess the rumors that he's sweet on her are true," he said in Gaelic. "Alright Doctor, but we go in first," Murphy said, switching to English.

By this time they had reached the lawn between the gardens and the building. Those who were still living from the party had followed; most wondering just what the Lantians were going to do next. They got their answer when the jumper decloaked. "Bronsen, Chang, stay with Doctor Beckett and get him whatever he needs to set up for incoming wounded," Cadman barked as she and the remainder of her Marines charged up into the jumper after the twins and Romeo.

When the jumper took to the air before cloaking once more, the council visibly shuddered. "You really are Lantians," one woman said in wonder.

"Aye," Doctor Beckett said. "Now, are there any wounded that need treatment?" Personally he was amazed that none of his own people had been hit. If that was the way most of the executions the McManus' brothers had done went, it was a wonder either of them had lived this long.


	18. Rescue

It was a good thing that the structures of the city were not the primitive mud and brick buildings or tents that most of the lower tech worlds had, because none of them would have withstood the weight of a jumper landing on the roof. Gates landed the cloaked jumper on a building across the street from the tavern that Doctor Weir and her kidnapper were holed up in. The other Marines were bringing out their heavier weapons and checking to make certain that everything they needed was ready to take out the pathetic asshole who'd dared to touch one of their people.

Murphy and Conner dug into one of the crates that Lorne had insisted they take with them, exchanging their empty clips for full ones and loading up their pockets as well. It wasn't that they didn't like the zats, just that they preferred their Desert Eagles. A man who was executed should leave a corpse that looked like he'd been executed. Romeo was loading up a messenger bag just in case that wasn't enough.

"Gates, where does Doctor Weir's transponder say she is in the building?" Cadman asked. The sergeant pulled up a holographic HUD, pointing out the second floor room where the jumper's sensors had located the subcutaneous transponder with Doctor Weir's code. They were fortunate that this world, while advanced enough to have substantially strong structures, was not advanced enough to have any sort of shielding. They could see not only a floor plan of the entire building where Doctor Weir was being held, but also how many people were in the building. The only thing that they couldn't see was how many people were in on the kidnapping.

"These people have one fucked up way to get a wife," Romeo said, shaking his head.

"They do it for the same reason that Teyla's people trade sperm," Conner told him.

"It's just that some jackass decided to take advantage of the situation to make his sick fantasy of having his own sex slave all legal and respectable," Murphy snarled.

Cadman snorted. "I still can't believe that you two traded with Teyla and her friend." She didn't bother to look back at the men preparing to go into a firefight. "Doctor Z, I know you want to go in, but you need to stay back and let us go in first. The best spot I can put you in is on the fire escape outside the room she's in. Your little toys are too destructive over a wide area and I know you can't hit the broadside of a barn with a pistol."

"So give me a zat," Radek said. "I cannot kill any one unless I shoot them twice. I go in first, shoot everyone once and it makes things safer for you. Not as much fun for these two," he jerked his thumb over at Conner and Murphy, "but they have already had lots of fun, yes?"

"Crap," Cadman shook her head. "I keep forgetting we've got those now."

"He's got a point and that way we know he won't accidentally shoot us in the back," Conner said.

Murphy smiled and bumped Radek with his elbow, inviting him in on the joke. "Here, take two," he said, and passed Radek the two zats he carried.

"Ok, get up here," Cadman turned around and called. The men crowded into the cockpit, jostling around until everyone could see the HUD that Gates had up. "The target has the hostage in the second story room of a two story tavern from the looks of the building. There are four rooms on the second story." The HUD switched with Cadman's briefing.

"Each room occupies one wall and has one outside exit; these two have balconies and these two have fire escapes. Hayes, Kempin, I want you two on the balconies. Romeo, Eackles, I want you two on the fire escapes. If the four of you are careful, you shouldn't be seen. Radek, Conner, Murphy and I will go in on the ground floor. Radek, you lead the way in and Conner and Murphy will follow you. I'll take the back door. I'll make sure not to go into the main room until you give me the all clear, ok Radek? That way you know you won't be shooting me."

Radek nodded. "Good, ok people, Doctor Weir's safety is our first concern. If that bastard tries to take off with her again, shoot them both with a zat. It's better that she spend some time unconscious than to end up at that asshole's mercy. Conner, Murphy, no mercy for anyone who had any part in this." Cadman made eye contact with each one of the men. "This son of a bitch does not live to see another day. You all know what he looks like. If you have the shot, take it." She waited until each of them accepted her orders with a nod. "Move out."

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ART-1 shuffled through the 'gate and into Atlantis' control room. It had been a nasty trip, but the end results had been worth it. One society set free from near slavery to a family line of corrupt rulers just because they had the ATA gene, and drones and puddlejumpers in exchange for medicine and help to set up their new system of rule. There were days when Colonel Sheppard knew that such things were just as important as killing off every Wraith in the galaxy, but then there were other days like this one where he just wanted to get home and forget that anything other than Atlantis existed. Unfortunately he wasn't going to get what he wanted anytime soon.

Colonel Caldwell was waiting for him as was the knowledge that Elizabeth, Radek, Carson, the twins, Romeo and seven of his Marines were off world setting up another treaty, this one exchanging medical help for access to an Ancient library. Personally, John just hoped that this one was better organized than Atlantis' database.

"Colonel," John saluted as he followed his team to the infirmary. Doctor Boswell had done a good job on the mission. He'd have to put something in her file and tell Carson when he got back. "Lorne, sitrep?" he asked, a billion things running through his mind.

Lorne stood close enough to the gurney John hopped up on to give his report while at the same time staying out of the way of the examining doctor's way. "Doctor Weir's mission is on track and they expect to be back by dinner, but I've still got two teams on standby in case of trouble. The Daedalus came in a few days early," he nodded at Caldwell, "and the new personnel are already settling in. I've restricted all science personnel to non restricted areas of the city until Doctor McKay or Doctor Zelenka say otherwise. The new soldiers include two Air Force pilots, both ATA positive, and they've already begun flight lessons for the puddlejumpers. The rest are a mix of Marines and Army this time, not all of them are experienced in offworld combat. The Marines are US issue, but the Army people come from several different countries. They're a bit of a mixed bag from what I've seen."

"Ronon can start putting them through their paces as soon as he's cleared. I'm sure they want to get down to work after having to sit on their backsides for three weeks," John said.

"Yes sir," Lorne replied, a faint smile for his CO. "The last of the new personnel is the chaplain that Doctor Weir requested. Father Nevan McManus. He's a cousin to the twins, he was called as soon as he got to Pegasus, and I've already moved him over to the little tower. So far the scientists have only tried to blow up the city twice while Doctor McKay was offworld and…"

"Only twice? My god, they're learning to restrain themselves!" snarked McKay.

"And," Lorne sent a stern look McKay's way for interrupting him, "the Daedalus is being used to run some experiments on long term stasis without the virtual reality hookups. We now have a calf, a pig and a cat on Atlantis. You'll find the cat has pretty much decided that she runs the place and her favorite napping spot is up by the 'gate controls."

"Well at least its not the chair," John said as a nurse took blood sample after blood sample. "Good work Lorne. We'll do our regular baby check and then I'll relieve you."

"You do not have to Colonel," Teyla spoke up. "I know you have duties to attend to." The look she shot Caldwell spoke volumes to her team, although Caldwell missed it completely.

"Don't worry about it. Taking five minutes to check up on my team mate's baby isn't going to interfere with anything," Sheppard reassured her.

"You're expecting Teyla?" Caldwell asked. "And you're still going on missions?"

"She's not pregnant Colonel. She has a child incubating in a piece of Ancient tech. Do you really think we'd have no problems with her going on missions if she was pregnant? There's no way we'd risk her baby!" Rodney huffed. He got up and marched past the bewildered Colonel.

Sheppard reached over and patted Caldwell on the shoulder. "Welcome back to the Pegasus galaxy Colonel. It just gets weirder the longer you stay." He followed Rodney over to where Ronon and Teyla were now crowded around a large mobile thing that had shifting lights all over it.

Caldwell followed, feeling more out of place than ever before. "May I ask who the father is?" he asked Teyla.

"I traded with Murphy McManus for his seed. His brother will provide the seed for my next child," Teyla said, beaming. "By using this technology, the children are assured not to have my Wraith DNA, but will have their ATA gene." John reached over and triggered the window that allowed the prospective parents to see the child growing. "John, what is happening?" Teyla asked worried when the screen/window showed two groups of growing cells instead of the one it had shown before.

"Congratulations Teyla, you're having twins," John said, settling in for a short lecture on the difference between identical and fraternal twins.

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Radek was smart enough to wait until someone opened the door to the tavern before rushing in, shooting both zats as fast as he could. He felt rather like one of the old west cowboys that he had watched in the movies he had seen as a child. Behind him he could hear the McManus brother's silenced guns going off; little spitting sounds as they killed the ones that needed killing. He had never thought when he still lived on Earth that he would ever hear such a thing and be so thoroughly pleased with it, but pleased he was. "Clear!" he called when he had finished knocking everyone unconscious.

Lieutenant Cadman came in from the backroom, and Conner hurried in to make certain that there were no evil men left alive in there. "Heading up the stairs," Cadman said into her radio. That was the signal for the Marines still outside to slip into the rooms they were outside of. They would meet the four in the short hallway outside the room where Elizabeth was being held.

Whatever the walls were made out of, it certainly blocked sound efficiently. None of Norhki's men had heard anything, and thus were easy to shoot where they stood guard outside Norhki's room. Cadman put a block of C4 on the door, blowing it open.

Everyone charged into the room then, blocking off any chance at escape. Norhki was alone in the room with Elizabeth. He had her pinned to the bed, and it was obvious from the rips in her uniform and the marks across her face what was going on. Even as they entered the room, Elizabeth was still fighting him, although she was down to one arm. The second one was obviously broken, but she was still attempting to claw his eyes out.

Norhki had just enough time to sit back on his heels before Conner and Murphy tackled him off of the bed. Radek hurried over, stripping off his jacket and gathering Elizabeth off of the bed. Even as he hurried her out of the room, she looked back over her shoulder to see the McManus brothers going through their ritual.


	19. Understanding

There were a lot of firsts that Elizabeth Weir had experienced since first coming to the Pegasus galaxy. There were the good ones; Atlantis rising to the surface, seeing Rodney McKay becoming a hero, traveling through the stargate. There were also the unfortunate ones; facing starvation while being flooded with refugees, helplessly watching John Sheppard turn into a bug, being unable to fight against the prejudice as Teyla and those like her were slightly ostracized for having Wraith DNA. Then there were the bad ones; the Wraith, having her people die in terrible ways and not being able to stop it, Kolya torturing Rodney, videotaping the message to Earth alerting them to the Wraith and knowing that should the Wraith succeed with their attack she would have to destroy Atlantis.

Now Elizabeth had one more experience to add to her list of 'bad things'. She shuddered and forced the memory of Norhki's hands away once more. She would deal with that by talking to Kate. She'd sent enough of her people to Kate when they'd gone through trauma to know that the doctor was very good at her job. She already had an appointment and she was going to keep it, no matter how much she just wanted to scrub the feel of his hands off of her. She would not let some back water world, petty aristocrat do what the Wraith could not and send her back to Earth with her tail between her legs.

Her people had come for her and she'd held him off long enough that the only damage she'd suffered had been bruises and a broken arm. How many times had her off world teams come back to Atlantis with injuries far more severe? John had turned into a bug for God's sake! Ronon had been a Runner for seven years! Teyla had lived with the threat of the Wraith culling her and her people her entire life. This was nothing compared to any of that. Even Rodney had suffered more serious injuries than she'd received.

Elizabeth looked in her bathroom mirror and abruptly decided against covering up the bruises with makeup. She had done nothing to be ashamed of. These were injuries that had led to the women of a world being freed of the threat of kidnapping and rape as a way of marriage. The women of the council had also shocked the hell out of the men by demanding an addition to the treaty; that Cadman teach their daughters and granddaughters self defense in return for unlimited access to the library. The original treaty had only granted them limited access. No one had ever been given unlimited access before. It was Lieutenant Cadman and the McManus brothers that she had to thank for that.

She had never thought that she would be grateful to the vigilantes she had living in her city for anything, but she was grateful. Thanks to those men she knew for a fact that Norhki would never hurt another woman again. She knew that there were men who were incapable of changing their ways. She had just never thought about how much of a difference there was between putting that man in jail and killing him from the victim's view point. She knew he was dead. She knew the twin's ritual and what it entailed. There was far more comfort in that fact than she could ever have imagined.

Elizabeth walked out of her bathroom and Radek jumped up from her desk chair. The sight of the scientist brought the first smile to her face in what felt like ages. Of all the faces she had thought to see when her people came for her, his face had been the one she hadn't expected. He was a scientist, one of her most dependable people, but he wasn't a soldier or a fighter. He had become one for her sake.

"I brought breakfast," Radek said, gesturing to her desk. "I thought you would wish to start the day without the stares. They will come soon enough."

"Radek, you are the sweetest man I have ever known. Thank you," Elizabeth said. She really hadn't been looking forward to breakfast in the dining hall.

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Lieutenant Cadman had rarely seen her commanding officers so very furious. She stood frozen at attention, not wanting to have his rage directed at her. "You're certain he's dead," the Colonel said flatly.

"Yes sir, along with approximately three eighths of the men who were attending the celebration," Cadman answered.

"How did you choose these men?" Sheppard asked. He never stopped pacing.

"Conner and Murphy McManus had previously determined that there was a chance they would be called to do their duty because of the nature of the men who greeted us. We used Spanish to get around the translation program and Romeo figured out a way to ensure no one who was not eligible as a target was killed. Those targeted were rapists, abusers, blackmailers, murderers and they had reached a level of severity that would have put them in a maximum security prison back home, usually with a life sentence sir, if not on death row," Cadman explained. She was grateful that she had asked exactly what constituted a target for the twins long before this last mission.

"And the man you killed Lieutenant?" Sheppard was well aware that the man had been twice her size and that what had happened to Elizabeth was just a preview of what would have happened to Cadman, but he needed her view on her actions.

"I'm a Marine, sir. No jumped up bully boy was going to keep me from doing my duty or use me as a toy against my will sir," she spat, still angry that anyone had thought her a helpless victim.

Sheppard nodded. "I like your priorities Lieutenant. What about Radek? Why did you let him go in first into a building during an assault?" That was very much against the rules and they both knew it.

Cadman blushed. "Sir, first off the level of offensive technology these people have is pretty pathetic. We're talking knives and swords here. The people on the first floor had no chance at all against a zat, especially as they weren't expecting us so soon, if at all. Second sir, he did not go first into the second floor. We knew that there was a good chance of opposition there, unlike on the first floor. Sir, Doctor Zelenka was angrier than I'd ever seen him. He was less upset about Doctor McKay's actions at Doranda. He was determined to go in. I figured it would be best for him to let out some of his rage on zatting the people who couldn't hurt him. I certainly did not want him to be angry at me for not allowing him to do anything." That would have been the standard response to Zelenka's demand to be a part of the assault. "He was threatening to blow pieces off of the kidnappers, sir. You do know that he takes grenades with him off world?"

Sheppard nodded, smirking. "That was the deal Cadman. He can't hit the broadside of a barn with a pistol and I didn't dare try him out on anything more powerful, but he's got a great pitching arm. He agreed to take a bunch of grenades that he'd souped up with him and I agreed to let him pass geek bootcamp so he could go off world." Unspoken was the knowledge that Radek was needed off world almost as much as Rodney. He was one of their two experts on Ancient technology and they couldn't allow anyone who couldn't defend themselves somehow to leave Atlantis. That was one of the reasons for the bootcamp for geeks in the first place, because not even Atlantis was completely safe.

"Alright Cadman, at ease," Sheppard said, finally stopping his pacing. "Your punishment for letting Radek do what he wanted is two weeks duty on the mainland, after you take a squad of female Marines and Teyla back to teach the Chulaon ladies how to defend themselves. I want you to run regular classes there. Take any of the male Marines that you want to use as demonstration dummies."

"Yes sir!" They both knew it was a slap on the wrist and more of a formality than anything else, but Sheppard would get into trouble with the SGC if he didn't do something to discipline her.

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All three McManus men were kneeling at the altar, praying. They'd had a wonderful reunion when the twins returned to Atlantis, although the twins had been shocked to find out that their cousin had been called as a shepherd. Never, in anyone's memory had there ever been anyone with both callings. There had been a very few priests who had been released from their calling to take up the mantle of shepherd, but Nevan McManus had felt no lessening of his calling as a priest. It was still as strong as it had been since he was a teenager.

As ever, their prayers sent them into a state of calm that allowed them to listen for the answers they knew the Lord would send them. Moments later they raised their heads, Father Nevan comforted and the twins concerned. Murphy turned to Conner. "Gretchen, Jacob, the new twins," he asked, his heart already breaking in two.

"We will do that which the Lord commands, Murph. He blessed us with them. He'll find us a way to bring them here." Conner looked up at the balconies on the walls. "One day soon, those balconies will be full of McManuses. I'm sure our Treasure and children will be among them." He gave his twin an ironic look. "After all, who else would put up with the likes of us?"

Murphy grinned, reassured by his brother's reasoning. "I can't wait to show them around. They'll love this place."

"Come on lads," Father Nevan said, patting both of his younger cousins on the shoulders. "You've got a bit of a delivery. Some people sent you some care packages." He laughed at the excited looks on the twins faces. They looked like little kids at Christmas.

Father Nevan led the way to the mess hall, where the packages for those who had been off world when the Daedalus arrived were being delivered. Large groups were gathered around the lucky people, mostly to see what would soon be on the trading market. Father Nevan led his cousins over to where Romeo was gloating over the things his uncle had sent him. "What'd you get?" Murphy asked.

"Movies, flash drives with my favorite magazines and shit, booze," Romeo held up a bottle of very good tequila. "And a long letter telling me that if I get myself killed, well let's just say I'd be in a lot of trouble," he laughed. "That one's yours though." He pointed at the large crate that sat next to the table. "Everyone wants to know what's in it, so crack that baby open!"

"With any luck it's a brewing kit," Conner said; as he picked up the small pry bar sitting on the table.

"YES!" Murphy cried as he pulled out a large stainless steel cook pot. "Uncle Sivial sent us the good stuff." Most of the crate was full of everything they would need to brew up enough alcohol to last them until the next time the Daedalus arrived in Pegasus.

"Seeds, letters from everyone," Conner held up a large bundle of letters. "DVDs, bibles," he tossed one to Murphy.

"Candy!" Murphy pulled out two large bags of small chocolate bars.

Conner pulled out the last thing in the crate, a photo album. "Oh good God," he breathed as he opened it up. "Murph, Gretchen sent us the ultrasounds."

Murphy dropped the chocolate like it was red hot and scrambled around so that he could also see the ultrasound pictures of their unborn twins. He touched the first one reverently. "We're the luckiest bastards in the universe, Conn."


	20. Why didn't I think of this before?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This takes place immediately after The Long Goodbye; some five months after the Saints leave Earth for Atlantis. That means that Atlantis has been occupied for just over two years now. That episode took place exactly as in cannon. Neither the twins, nor Father Nevan were in Atlantis at the time.

Colonel John Sheppard was more than happy to have his own body back, even if it meant time in the infirmary right next to Elizabeth Weir, who the alien consciousness that had taken over his body had kissed. Ok, so she'd been taken over by another one, but still, it was his body that had kissed hers. So not good, and Caldwell standing there teasing Elizabeth wasn't helping. Worse still, this was a problem that could happen again very easily. He focused on the security implications of the incident, rather than how easily he had been duped into letting an alien take him over for twenty four hours. He was a sap for romantic love. He knew that. He also had managed to keep it to himself for years. He'd let someone else take the mushy blame for this travesty.

Sheppard needed to figure out a way that they could have figured out before either of the aliens could have left their 'black box' storage that they were soldiers who had a death vendetta against each other, and were willing to do anything, anything at all, in order to kill the other. It would be just his luck that this would happen again, and what if it happened off world and he brought it back to Atlantis? He scrubbed his face with his hands; frustrated that he couldn't see what he felt was an obvious answer. He knew that he already knew it, and he was going to kick himself in the ass when someone pointed it out to him.

"John?" Rodney hovered at the end of his gurney.

Sheppard could see that he was nervous, although he really didn't know what Rodney had to be nervous about. "Yeah?" he asked, cautiously.

"Father Nevan's back from the mainland. I know, I know, it was completely moronic of me, but honestly who's going to remember a priest at a time like that? Huh? I mean, we're thinking rescue, and compassion, and, and, all those lofty goals and things - not something hokey like 'ohh, let's get a priest over here'. I mean, religion really isn't much use at a time like that, not that I have much use for it anyway, but you know what I mean."

John interrupted Rodney's babble. "That's it! That's what I couldn't remember! I knew I'd be kicking myself. Rodney, go ask Father Nevan if any of the rest of his family is involved in any profession we can bring them to Atlantis for. The more we can get here, the better chance we have that the gene will be triggered. We'll need at least ten more shepherds to cover the security shifts and put one McManus on every recon team."

"I know you're better than that at basic math Sheppard. You can't separate the twins, remember? They count as one not two." Caldwell was trying to follow the conversation between Sheppard and McKay, but was barely managing to follow along; understanding it was something else altogether. Elizabeth on the other hand, knew exactly what they were talking about and leaned forward following every word.

John shook his head. "We never have all the recon teams off world at once. The third security shift can rotate between whoever is on light duty from injuries or whatever. For that matter, the first two shifts can as well if we have to. Ten is a good number and eight would be our absolute minimum."

"Rodney, don't you need some help with the repair work?" Elizabeth asked. Rodney and John stared at her. "What? Most of the repair work that needs to be done is vital, but it takes up a lot of Rodney and Radek's time; time that they could be using to figure out things like the ZPMs. They need the help, and hiring from a known ATA family is a plus. I'm sure that Father Nevan or the twins could recommend a couple of plumbers, perhaps an electrician?"

"Yeah," John grinned, getting into the spirit. "And aren't jobs kind of hard to find in Ireland right now? You wouldn't have to give them the sort of outrageous salary that the scientists get."

"Hey, we earn every penny of those salaries, Colonel!" Rodney protested. John threw him a look and Rodney realized he was arguing on the wrong side. "Uh, oh right, right and if they happened to be married to a shepherd, if they aren't one themselves, our security problem is handled as well."

"The IOA isn't going to let you bring families here to Atlantis," Caldwell interrupted. "They're still very much against bringing dependents into a war zone, and even if you did get them to agree, you'd need housing and other support systems in place," he cautioned.

"We already have housing," John pointed out. "The little tower is full of apartments just waiting to be used."  
"And as far as the other support systems all we'd really need is a grade school teacher, a child care professional, a pediatrician, and a midwife/obstetrician. The last two are already on the list for your next trip out here and we already have several of the scientists teaching classes," Elizabeth told Caldwell.

"Several of my people are going for their masters," John said with pride.

"Actually a few are on track for a doctorate, but don't tell them that," Rodney corrected. "We want them to actually live long enough to get their degrees and the stress has been known to push people over the edge."

"Several ladies here in Atlantis are expecting Colonel. I've already begun to prepare what we need because at least two of them I can't send back to Earth," Elizabeth said as she crossed her arms. She was still embarrassed over Caldwell's earlier teasing, but if anyone had earned the right it was him. He was someone who could truly understand what it was like to be possessed. Plus, he'd already proved himself to be on their side of the conflict that they knew would eventually come with the IOA. Why else would he have brought them not only seeds to begin growing Earth food plants, but farm animals as well? He'd even managed to get some farming manuals and other self sufficiency information put onto flash drives to bring them.

"They won't agree to those things for Teyla and her friend," Caldwell pointed out. They could tell that he did not want to say it, but felt obligated to point out the holes he saw in their plan. Considering that on this trip he'd brought both women presents for their Ancient conceived children, they knew that he supported them.

"Did you know that Sateda and Japan share several cultural elements?" Elizabeth asked out of the blue, "or that in spite of his very vocal dislike of children, Radek is actually a man very committed to his family?"

"WHAT?!?" screeched Rodney. "NO, NO, NO; that is not happening!"

John laughed. "Elizabeth you are so evil! That's perfect!"

"I'd have to object to that description Colonel Sheppard," Father Nevan said as he walked into the infirmary just ahead of ART-2 and the twins, who had been on Chulaon while all hell had been breaking loose in Atlantis.

"Aye, she's a bit twisted, but she's not evil," Murphy said. He and Conner jumped up onto a gurney. With as many people in the infirmary as there was right now, it simply made sense for them to share.

"We should know," Conner finished.

"That barbarian did not knock up the best assistant that I've ever had!" Rodney had steam pouring out his ears. He was so caught up in the image that Elizabeth had implied that he did not realize what John had, that Elizabeth was going to threaten the IOA with Rodney's rage. He turned to the twins. "You'll let me have some of those knives, right? I have a team mate to castrate!"

"Well now, if he don't do right by her, you'd be within your rights, but you at least got to give the man a chance," Conner said.

"Course, he should know that keeping in all of our good graces means he'd better man up," said Murphy, waving one of his never ending supply of chewing sticks at Rodney.

Lorne leaned over towards Sheppard. "He's talking about Miko?"

"What about Miko?" Ronon asked, just coming into the now very crowded infirmary.

"Rumor has it she's pregnant," John grinned, just to see Ronon's reaction. He didn't think that was the case, but what did he know of the girl talk that ran around his city? Ronon definitely did not react the way John expected him to. Ronon stood stock still for just a second, then let a out a whoop loud enough to be heard on the other side of Atlantis, grabbed Rodney and gave him a huge spinning hug before dropping him to the floor and running out of the infirmary at top speed.

"Well," Conner laughed. "It looks like we won't have to have that talk with him after all." He absent mindedly held out his left arm for a nurse to take blood samples as Murphy held out his right. It had become so routine that he hardly even noticed the prick of the needle.

"Aye," Murphy was laughing as well. "It looks like you'll be busy Father. You'll have Japanese weddings and Satedan weddings to research, not to mention how to figure out combining the two."

"A task I look forward to with pleasure," Father Nevan assured his cousins. "Now," he turned to Elizabeth and Sheppard. "How are the two of you doing?"

"Other than extremely embarrassed?" Elizabeth asked. She had dropped her head into her hands.

"Can we not talk about that please?" Sheppard begged. He turned to the twins. "Can you recommend any members of your family that could come to Atlantis? We're looking to put shepherds on each of the recon teams at the very least, if not to put one on each of the security shifts as well. We've got job openings for the repair work, teaching school, medical, anything that we can slip past the IOA. I'd also like the two of you to join ART-1."

"Gillian," Murphy said, turning to Conner, naming one of the female shepherds that they knew. There weren't many, and they tended to take the role of watchers, marking those who deserved to die for their more active brothers; not that any of them hadn't taken a life or two themselves.

"Aislin," he returned. One was a teacher, the other an ER nurse; and both of them used their jobs to serve their calling. Both of them worked in London and could easily leave their jobs. They'd both enjoy working in a place where their jobs had nothing to do with their calling, while still serving the Lord. Neither one was married.

"What about those with families?" Father Nevan asked Sheppard.

John smirked as he nodded at where Rodney was just now attempting to sit up, still dizzy from Ronon's impromptu hug. "We've got at least five children on the way, Father. A few more won't make any difference."


	21. The Genii

"DAMN IT WE CAN HELP YOU! WHY CAN'T YOU FIGURE THAT OUT!?!" Lorne yelled in frustration after the Genii soldiers left them in their cell.

"It's no use Major," Aislin McManus told him. "They don't want help. Most of them are convinced of their own superiority. I can see why the original reports referred to them as wannabe Nazis."

"And the rest of them?" Lieutenant Cadman asked.

Aislin gave her a grim look. "Do you remember your history and how hard it was for any good men in any Nazi territory? It's no different here."

"How soon before they realize we're not dead?" Lorne asked Aislin, wanting her professional opinion. Aislin had been assigned to his team as a medic, her work as a nurse making it possible. Personally Lorne was very grateful that he'd gotten this McManus. Aislin was much easier on the eyes than either of the twins. He didn't have to worry about practical jokes that scared people to death with her either.

"Once Atlantis gets the decoy bodies, just long enough for a preliminary autopsy. These people have no clue what we can do," Aislin snorted in derision. "They think that just putting our tags on the decoys will convince everyone back home." She rolled her eyes.

"I can't believe that they actually laughed at you being a mila poppaaem," Parish said.

Lorne snorted this time. "Even I can tell they think we're making that up. I'm kind of glad though. It makes what's going to hit them all the sweeter." ART-2 looked at each other and grinned. The Genii were in for it now. Across the hall the two guards shifted uneasily at the sight.

 

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Conner McManus knelt beside the ravaged and burnt body that was all that was left of a member of his family. He'd been the one to suggest that Aislin come out here. The guilt was about to overwhelm him when his twin yelled. "MOTHERFUCKER!" Murphy screamed.

"MURPHY!" Conner grabbed hold of his brother.

"THAT AIN'T HER! AISLIN'S GOT THAT FUCKING PIN IN HER SHOULDER! REMEMBER? WE WERE TAKING OUT THAT FUCKING SERIAL KILLER SHE'D SPOTTED." Murphy grabbed his brother and shoved his face near the shoulder of the corpse. The bones were clearly visible, and there was no metal pin, not even a sign of the severe break that their cousin had gotten on that night. "Some fucking asshole fucking took her," Murphy growled. "They think they can fucking get away with it."

"They took one of God's shepherds," Conner growled. The look the twins shot each other said it all, that person or people would face the wrath of the McManus family. Elizabeth had made good on her implied promise. She'd faced down the IOA on the issue of children and other civilians coming to Atlantis by asking if they really wanted Rodney McKay to lose the only assistant who could put up with him and kept him well supplied with coffee or the scientist that McKay said was the only person in Atlantis with half a brain.

The simple fact was that most of them were scared of Rodney and what he was capable of. They would much rather keep him happy in another galaxy than invite him back to Earth by upsetting him. If they had done that, then he would come and make many very important people's lives miserable until he got what he wanted. This would have a shit runs down hill effect that would end up with them losing their jobs and McKay getting what he wanted in the first place. Elizabeth knew that she would eventually pay for pulling out her big guns, but it would be worth the price.

The end result was that the IOA had backed down, and thanks to emails sent between the twins, Father Nevan and the rest of their family, thirty McManuses, five of whom were children, had shown up at Area 53 ready to board the Daedalus by the time the space ship had arrived back at Earth three weeks later. Twenty one, soon to be pissed off, Irish soldiers of God were waiting back in Atlantis for news of one of their own. It would be twenty three angry shepherds that would make whoever it was that took their people pay dearly, because every adult McManus by blood had been called by the time they'd reached Atlantis.

Conner and Murphy didn't calm down but they did focus their anger away from the dead, who deserved their respect, not their fury. "You don't think that's them?" Sheppard asked, more as a way to confirm what he'd heard than that he doubted them.

"No," they said shortly. Ronon came over with the body bags he'd been sent back to the jumper for. Carefully the brothers laid each body in a bag. They would be taken back to Atlantis to see if the dead could tell them where their missing team was.

 

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It didn't take more than five minutes once Doctor Beckett had received the bodies before he came up to the conference room with the answer. "It's the Genii!" he called as he burst in. "All five of the bodies are radioactive."

"Does my team need decontamination?" Sheppard snapped. It was his team who had carried the bodies home.

"No, fortunately there were only low levels, so I think what's likely to have happened was that they were killed by long term exposure rather than a sudden burst," Carson reassured him.

"That means they were mid to high level Genii," McKay pointed out. "They were the ones who stayed in the bunkers. Those who lived on the surface were partially shielded from the radiation."

"It seems our time to search the database is up," Conner said to Murphy.

"Aye," Murphy said. "The time has come for Kolya to die. I just hope that we found enough in the medical database for you and your coworkers Doctor Beckett. You're going to have a lot of very sick people to treat soon."

"At least we hope so," Conner said, knowing that the five bodies in the infirmary were only the start of the death toll the Genii had brought upon themselves. "We're going to get ready."

"Conner, Murphy, you'll be taking your team as well as your family," Elizabeth instructed. "Bring our people back alive, and if you do find Kolya… well, you should do what you do best."

Stunned by this change of heart, the twins nodded as they stood up and left the room, their team following. During the walk to the little tower, Rodney pulled up the old security tapes from the database on his tablet. He'd make sure that all of them knew what Kolya looked like so that they'd know if he was killed or not. He also sent one of his minions after radiation tags. They'd need to know how much radiation each one of them received on this assault.

Entering the chapel, Teyla was not surprised to see all of the mila poppaaem and their families, right down to the youngest child and including Romeo, sitting on the benches with their heads bowed in prayer. Father Nevan was alone praying at the altar, and he stood turning around when they entered. Everyone turned around to look at them, their silence speaking louder than words ever could. She could feel them, the very air vibrating with their need to explode into action. "It was the Genii," the twins said flatly.

Conner and Murphy removed their coats, revealing that they had stopped to rearm themselves when they'd spoken to their families before. Silently they laid the coats down and walked up the aisle to the altar. John and Rodney held her and Ronon back, indicating that they should just watch for now. The brothers knelt before their priest cousin and he blessed them. As they stood up and turned to walk back towards the entrance, the other mila poppaaem stood up and walked over to receive blessings as well. Teyla could sense the ritual in every movement, and wondered for a brief moment if her daughters would one day stand in this place, completing the same ritual. Silently the shepherds passed by, glancing at the picture Rodney showed them. Conner and Murphy led the way up to the Jumper Bay, splitting away from each other after a short glance to power up jumpers one, two and four.

Elizabeth was talking with Ladon Radim when the Jumper Bay doors opened, signaling that the rescue mission was ready to leave. "Ladon, I'm sorry but you are too late to save your people from Cowen. He has already sealed their fate. I know that none of you believe that we come from the Ancients home world, but it is the truth. Cowen kidnapped one of our off world teams, and one of its members was mila poppaaem." She leaned forward. "I cannot stop them, nor do I wish to. They will leave the innocent alive, but the rest are dead." She ended the transmission and tapped her radio. "Jumper one, two and four, you may leave as soon as the stargate is clear. Good luck and God speed."

 

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It was a slaughter, pure and simple. Men and women dressed, not in the Atlantis uniforms that the Genii people expected, but in blue pants with black shirts, long necklaces with a strange amulet at the end, and armed with more weapons than they had ever seen one person carry, came and began shooting people everywhere. It was Dahlia Radim who realized who they were when one stopped to bless a child and tell her to run to the stargate, that she would find help there. "NO!" she shouted and used the last of her strength to pull a weapon away from one of the men. "They are mila poppaaem!"

"That we are lass," one woman said, her eyes hidden behind dark lenses. "You two need to go to the stargate. There you will find someone to take you back to Atlantis to treat you for any injuries or illnesses you have. There is no evil in either of you, but there are many here who cannot say the same, and they will be meeting the Lord today." She walked on, leaving the stunned couple behind. Teyla was walking behind her, and gave them a reassuring smile before hurrying on to reach the underground bunker.

Teyla had never seen such a slaughter. There were so many dead, blood was flowing down the tunnel floor beneath her feet. The further they got into the bunker complex, the fewer people were sent to the surface, and the more people were killed. She noticed one thing that seemed odd, but thought it probably had something to do with their faith. Whenever a woman appeared that needed killing, the men passed her by. It was one of the women mila poppaaem who killed her.

Gillian McManus noticed the puzzled look on Teyla's face as she put down another evil woman. "It's one of the things that is more family tradition than God's will," she explained. "HE has never said anything that I've ever heard, so we continue it until HE says otherwise. The men of my family will only kill evil men, never women or children. That is because good men never harm women or children, because they are stronger. If a woman gives herself to evil, we ladies take care of it because we are their equals, but none of us will ever harm a child."

"Because you are stronger than a child, and should be protecting them," Teyla said, beginning to understand something that had always frustrated her about the Earth born, their insistence on protecting her when she could wipe the floor with them.

"Exactly," Gillian grinned. "The strong should always protect the weak, no matter their sex, but as a general rule of thumb it's a pretty good one."

"Rule of wrist!" came out of another tunnel. Gillian laughed in utter delight. Teyla probably wouldn't have recognized Aislin's voice if she hadn't been listening for it.

"Oh shut the fuck up!" came from yet another tunnel. It was Conner this time. "I keep telling you, she was preop!"

The two groups met at the junction and continued down the final tunnel to where ATR-2 was being held. The guards never stood a chance. Teyla had always known that the weapons carried by the Atlantis military were powerful, but she'd never seen them used against humans up close or so enthusiastically before today. Murphy was giggling into his twin's shoulder as Gillian unlocked the cell door, unfazed by having to grope a corpse to find the key. "Shut your hole," Conner grumbled.

Teyla had a feeling that there was a story there she should look into. The best stories the twins told were usually making fun of themselves or each other. She tapped her radio. "Colonel, this is Teyla. We've found ART-2. They are alive and well. No injuries that I can see."

"I think we're done here," came over her radio. "The LSDs say there's no Genii left alive, just us." Teyla knew that the life sign detectors were able to tell the difference between the Genii and those from Atlantis because of the subcu transponders that Doctor Beckett had given them. "Fall back to the stargate everyone. Did anyone see Kolya? My group didn't run into him."

Negative replies came from all the groups. "Oh great, so now we're going to be looking over our shoulders for that psycho," came from Rodney. No one answered because they all knew it was the truth.


	22. Trip Prep

Carson Beckett looked on with some amusement as the McManus twins walked in to the infirmary and once more peered into the Ancient baby machine. When the Daedalus had last left Earth Gretchen McManus was eight months along and still pregnant with twins. It was just over nine months now that their wife had conceived and they had received no news in any of the weekly data bursts. So their coming down to look at Teyla's twin daughters and Alikei's son had become a bit of a habitual thing, almost as if as long as the three babies here in Atlantis were fine, so too were the two babies and mother that they were worried about back on Earth.

"Just because the two of you were early, doesn't mean that your sons will be," Carson spoke up, letting the two men know he was here.

"Most twins are born on the early side," Conner reminded the doctor.

"Aye, but not all, and you have to remember this as well; if Gretchen is on bed rest, who's looking after young Jacob?" Carson nodded at their confused look. "I know yer family is close lads, but most likely it's yer mam looking after your lady and yer boys. Seeing as how there is no way in either galaxy you could convince me that your oldest boy isn't a delightful little scamp, that means when your mam does get a break, its nap time for Gran."

Conner looked at Murphy. "She's gonna kill us you know," he pointed out. "Leaving her with all that work."

"Aye," Murphy said. "I guess we'd better count our blessings that Ma hasn't sent us word."

Conner smiled ruefully at his brother, before turning to Carson. "Well now Doc, what are you working on this fine day?"

"I'm working on my retrovirus," Carson told them. "If I can get it right, it will completely eradicate the Iratus bug DNA in the Wraith, or at the very least suppress it enough that they can live as humans."

"That's fucked up," was Murphy's opinion.

"Why would anyone want to do something so stupid?" Conner asked.

"This way they won't have to eat humans," Carson tried to explain. "The hunger for life energy that they get from the Iratus bug doesn't kick in until puberty. They are no different from any human child before that. They eat the same things we do."

"Doc, they don't have to eat humans now," Conner pointed out.

"The sick fucks do it because they chose to," Murphy said gently. He patted Carson on the shoulder.

"Besides, you've got your thinking a bit backwards Doc," Conner said as gently as his brother. Neither of them wanted to hurt the gentle doctor. "Wraith aren't humans who had Iratus DNA added in during their evolution. They are Iratus bugs who added in human DNA. It makes a huge difference."

"Don't make the same mistake the Ancients did and try to manipulate reality to your liking. We do understand where you're coming from. You're a compassionate man who doesn't want to be a part of genocide, but this isn't the way to do it," Murphy begged him to understand.

"We've tried to make humans inedible to the Wraith. It doesn't work," Carson admitted.

"This won't either," Murphy said firmly. "I don't know if you follow any religion, but come down to the chapel. At the very least, it's a peaceful place that has nothing to do with war and we'll try to explain what we mean."

Carson snorted. "It's a damned tower full of weapons! How can it possibly be anything else?"

The twins smiled. "Come and see," they said.

 

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"Alright everybody, once more through the 'gate for ZMPs, trade agreements, and friendly locals," Colonel Sheppard said cheerfully as he walked into the locker room where the off world teams kept their personal gear. He was pushing a cart with the general issue supplies every team went off world with, along with the special items that only their team carried.

"Only if we get lucky Colonel, and since when has that happened," Rodney said pessimistically.

"The odds have to go in our favor sometime Rodney," Sheppard said, determined not to let Rodney get him down. The scientist was only moody because Atlantis' cat, Her Highness Miss Fluffy Pants, (and if John ever found out who it was that named her that Ronon was going to have himself a new sparring partner, ie toy) had decided that Radek's, not Rodney's, gadgets and gizmos were the next best thing to catnip. "Ok, epi-pens for everybody, extra ration bars made from the finest Pegasus ingredients, …" John started passing out the gear.

Rodney hid a small smile on his face, knowing that his team was looking out for him. He really didn't have a lot of medical issues, but the ones he did have were all potentially lethal. It was good to see someone take them seriously for a change, instead of the joke that most people treated them as. It was like no one ever seemed to put together the fact that he couldn't lie to save his life with the fact that he said that some things could kill him, everyone but Carson and his team that is. Even the twins had learned how to administer the epi-pen injections in case he had a severe allergic reaction. In turn he looked out for them as best as he could as well, given that their jobs were all highly dangerous.

Teyla watched, amused as the twins packed their packs for this mission. They sat on a bench with their packs between them, facing each other, and both men were packing both packs. It didn't seem to matter who had grabbed what item, or which pack it was supposed to go into, they never seemed to make a mistake. All four hands swiftly added things to both packs, sometimes running into each other, which necessitated a short slapping session apparently, but no serious arguments. She hoped that her daughters, while hopefully not having the brothers' fear of separation, would also have this sort of bond. She had been told it was likely, as well as the likelihood of their personalities being extremely different. In five months time she would know what it was like to have two children as different as night and day, to use the Colonel's expression, while looking exactly the same.

Ronon had gotten used to the McManus brothers over the last seven months. Their synchronicity thing was still freaky, and they could still use it to get the better of him, but he'd come to understand that it was simply because they were twins. That in itself was something that was still hard for him to wrap his mind around. Still, it was something that he was studying so that he would be able to help Teyla with her daughters. Not only were the little girls twins, but they had been made from the seed of a twin who was a mila poppaaem. There was a chance the girls would be called to be shepherds when they were grown, a chance that was even greater than usual considering that every McManus by blood had been called when they'd come to Atlantis. The girls would need every advantage he could give them, especially as they would be the age mates of his own child.

Conner took his and Murphy's epi-pens, securing them in their pocket on the left and right sides of their respective packs. Murphy took the extra ration bars from Sheppard. Conner hadn't understood the reasoning behind those until his second trip off world with ART-1. There was a very common vegetable that grew on many worlds that Rodney was lethally allergic to. When that was served, those extra ration bars made all the difference, not to mention the times that he knew ART-1 had been overdue or missing for days at a time. They hadn't had one of those trips through the 'gate yet, but he knew it was only a matter of time.

Murphy checked his brother's pack, making sure that Conner had everything he'd need for this mission. So far their missions had been a cake walk, well a cake walk by ART-1 standards. There had been one bar brawl that had been caused by a misunderstanding. Teyla had managed to fix that, although if anyone else tried to buy his brother, even for a night, he was still going to kick some serious ass. It was one thing for Teyla and her friend to ask to trade for a sperm donation. It was something else altogether for a man to try to buy Conner's services for his wife for fuck's sake! He wasn't going to think about the teasing he'd received over not being the one who'd been asked for.

Their second mission had been marred by McKay's freaking out over some sort of vegetable. That one had sort of fixed itself when the son of the head guy had thrown the vegetable at Rodney and his arm had swelled up like a balloon from the squishy vegetable's juice. The man had to be allergic to damn near everything in the universe. That had actually helped the mission because the head guy had been so horrified about his calling them liars when they'd been being honest about Rodney's medical condition that he'd given them everything they wanted without the normal haggling.

"Suit up boys and girls, we've got a bunch of sick people to feed," Sheppard said. The Genii had more survivors than they'd hoped for, although all of them would need years of careful watching for cancers. The good news was that all of the translating Conner and Murphy had done had ensured that those who were not too far gone would recover given enough time. Even better news was that all of the survivors had some type of technical training, so they would be able to help out around the city once they'd recovered a little more. The bad news however was that Romeo had been right. Most of the Genii were not able to conceive without medical intervention, and those who could would only be able to produce children with birth defects. The Ancients' baby machines had been found just in time.

"The Yalcorna should be more than happy to trade with us," Teyla said. "Their world has many different crops that need little cultivation. If we offer to provide help with their current harvest, they usually offer part of the harvest in return." She shrugged into her jacket and pack, letting Ronon check to see if any adjustments were needed. John and Rodney always checked each other, and Conner and Murphy seemed to take it for granted that they would check each others' gear.

"What's the likely ratio?" Sheppard asked as they walked into the control room. They wouldn't be taking the jumpers for this trip.

"Almost everything our people harvest," Teyla said with a smug smile. "The Yalcorna are a generous people. It is understood that visitors will provide whatever they can as payment and harvest as far as possible from the stargate, but that is not a hardship. Many worlds have been saved from starvation due to cullings by the Yalcorna. They are as neutral a people as is possible here in Pegasus."

"Why hasn't someone like Cowen taken them over then?" McKay asked. He passed by the control room's DHD and sighed. Her Highness was sleeping right on top of it. "The next time the Daedalus is cleared for bringing in a cat, I want to be here, not off world because I absolutely refuse to have to suffer through this again!"

"Because Rodney, only the Yalcorna know how to process the crops so that they are not lethal," Teyla explained. "All of the plants carry a type of toxin and the Yalcorna guard the secrets of removing that toxin zealously." She gently petted the sleeping cat. The small feline fascinated her. She'd never seen such an animal before. The other animals that Colonel Caldwell had brought were at least somewhat similar to those she had known all her life, although she did not think she could call the calf a not-bartaf, as they called a bartaf a not-beef.

Snickering at McKay's peevishness, Murphy went through his own ritual of checking his tablet before leaving Atlantis. There was still nothing in his email that couldn't wait until they got back, and when they did it would be right after another check in with the SGC, which meant email from home. He sent a quick prayer heavenward for his wife and children.


	23. Wraith and Atlantis University

The usual greeting rituals were one of the more pleasant aspects of life in the Pegasus galaxy; that is if they were truly meant. There were more than a few times that a 'friendly' ceremony had hidden a deeper, more sinister meaning, but as John was hoping that putting McManus shepherds on each team would cut down on the number of traps his people fell into, he was feeling fairly good about this one. Even better was knowing that Conner and Murphy were relaxed enough to play with the local children with Ronon.

At the moment while Teyla and John were negotiating, or rather Teyla was while John watched, Murphy was conspiring with the older children to take down Ronon, using their superior numbers to defeat his skills. Conner was helping the smaller children to bug Rodney, shamelessly pleading right along with the children for stories and the like. John knew that Conner wasn't bugging Rodney out of malice or his misplaced sense of humor.

The experienced father, or at least more experienced than anyone else on the team, was trying to help Rodney get past his tendency to treat children like either like an experiment that he wasn't sure if it was going to explode or not, or a miniature minion who was particularly dim. If Rodney would just relax a little bit more, which in Rodney's case meant getting some real, practical experience, he'd be a great dad, or whatever the male members of their team would be to Teyla's children. It would be a little less than five months before Teyla's girls arrived, and Ronon and Miko's child would not be far behind after that along with Elizabeth's and Radek's.

John knew that sooner or later he could count on Teyla roping him into a bout of child care as well. He couldn't say that he really minded it. Thanks to Teyla's enthusiastic volunteering of her team mates, John now knew how to change a cloth diaper, how to feed a baby, even how to burb one and why it needed to be done. He was gaining a lot of confidence in his new skills. Of course, he was fairly sure that the next task he was given would have him fumbling like a FNG, but everyone was a rookie at one point and he was sure that given enough help he and the kid would make it through his fumbling first attempts at whatever it would be.

Teyla and the elders had just finished hammering out the details of the trade when John heard the distinctive whine of a dart. "WRAITH! Get the kids to safety!" he yelled, pulling his P-90. Like most worlds that held a more permanent settlement, the Yalcorna had caves that they hid in when the Wraith came. If the adults could get the children there in time, the next generation would be safe, but only if they had the time. John was determined to buy it for them.

 

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'There were many different divisions of people in Atlantis' Radek thought as he taught his small mechanical engineering class. 'There were the Athosians, the scientists, and the military at first. Then after the siege we had discovered just how badly those lines between scientist and military had been blurred by the sheer effort of trying to survive. Most of the scientists and support civilians exercised, fired guns and even went into the field right alongside the Marines. Most of the military, including our only Air Force Officer at the time, could often be found helping out in the labs when they were off duty. So the divisions changed and were expanded to include first year survivors and those who came after. But sometime within the last year the divisions began to shift, grow, adjust and be obliterated at an astonishing rate.'

Radek could see the result of this within his five person class. Keenan was an Athosian, but he had been found to be ATA recessive and had taken the gene therapy. He had a sharp intelligence, and had begged to be taught everything the Earth born knew. In just two years he had gone from the equivalent of a homeschooled fifth grader to taking college level classes, being one of Sheppard's reserve pilots and joining the military for as many of their duties as Colonel Sheppard and Major Lorne would allow.

Jalmice Morkal was a Genii; one of the survivors that had been sent to Atlantis by the McManus family. He had barely been allowed out of his sick bed, but it hadn't stopped him from his determined assault on the enormous amount of knowledge that his people had skipped over, forgotten, lost to the Wraith, or had never bothered to find. Like most of the Genii, once they had been processed through the infirmary into one of the cancer wards as the Marines had nicknamed them, Jalmice had been virtually slapped in the face with just how much more advanced the Earth born were than his people, not that any of them were other than kind. He was astonished at how they were not only able to understand, but also to repair and in some cases improve upon what the Ancestors had left behind.

When Jalmice had discovered that the Earth born did not in fact hoard their knowledge as he had been told, but shared a great deal of it; that it was only their own ignorance and prejudice that made it impossible for them to understand, he too had begged for instruction in the ways of the Earth born. To his astonishment, and to the astonishment of those Genii with him in his ward, Doctor Beckett had agreed, providing that he did as he was told to improve his health. He was not the only Genii who had quickly agreed, eager to discover what had been kept from them by men like Cowen and Kolya.

Romeo was not, nor would he ever be, a scholar. He was a man who did best with getting his hands dirty, learning from hands on experiences. That did not stop him from doing his best to understand the why behind when something worked, and when something else didn't. He had quickly found a place for himself here among the engineers who worked on the puddle jumpers. Radek fully expected that within a year Romeo would be a fully qualified jumper technician. It was very likely that he'd even be able to build one from scratch by the end of his five year sentence. Radek had no doubt that Romeo would not be leaving at the end of five years.

John Colt was a Marine, but he was also a survivor of the first year. He knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt just how big a difference having a working knowledge of the tech around you could make in whether or not you and your team lived or died. He was determined to understand as much as he was able; and then a little more. The man didn't know it, but his next paper and review was his Master's thesis. They had set up all papers to be graded this way so that those who were on track for degrees wouldn't know when they were actually getting them. A thesis or dissertation would simply be another paper. That was by Rodney's order, but it was one they all agreed on. Life in Atlantis was stressful enough. There was no need to tempt fate or bad luck into pushing one of their students over the edge.

His last student was also his youngest. Patrick McManus had only just finished technical school when his older brother, a plumber, had been hired to do repairs in Atlantis. Unable to find a job at home he'd come with his brother, only to find himself in great demand on the repair teams. Now he was studying to go further than being a simple electrician. Patrick was another one of Radek's students who would most likely never leave Atlantis.

Radek looked around the small class and smiled to himself. 'This is what teaching must have been like during the early days of America,' he thought. 'These are the basis of the people who will become Lantians; those who are eager for knowledge, and those who love the city. Atlantis University is getting off to a wonderful start."

 

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This was their first real encounter with the Wraith, but they knew what to do. Conner and Murphy shoved the children at Rodney and several adult locals, and then they began to fight a rear guard action. "SHIT, I wish we had some of Seamus' bigger guns!" Murphy yelled. His and Conner's P-90s managed to hit something vital on one of the Darts, but unfortunately not vital enough to take it down.

"FUCK YEAH!" agreed Conner. It soon became obvious that this was no ordinary culling. From the sheer amount of Darts in the air a ship had to be in orbit, but whether it was a cruiser or a hive ship was anybody's guess. Conner and Murphy soon realized that although they could take down a Dart, it was only when they worked together to do so. The scooping runs were the perfect opportunity, so they began to make bigger targets of themselves by taunting the Wraith pilots, then splitting up and going in different directions before blasting it with their P90s. It was a chancy game, but knowing that the more Darts they took out the more chance the children had to survive made it more than worth the risk to them.

It was by accident that they ran into one of the hunters. Most of the hunters were the 'soldier' or 'drone' types, the ones without faces, but there were also males among them. The one that they had run into, and that was literally, was one of these males. Murphy hit the male at a flat out run, sending them both tumbling head over heels. At the time they were running from a drone, looking for a good spot to set it up for the kill.

When Conner saw that Murphy was down and the drone was distracted by the sudden change in its prey, he ducked around an outhouse and came at it from the side. Three bursts from one of his zats and there was no more drone. Conner didn't take the time to say a thank you prayer, but one was almost as strong in his mind as the worry for his twin. He ran towards where he had seen Murphy go down.

They were down in the dirt next to one of the corrals where half a dozen animals were tied up. Conner couldn't get a clear shot, so he ran as fast as he could, but he was terrified he would be too late. Conner tackled the Wraith just as his hand began to strike at Murphy's chest. They flew off of Murphy and right into one of the tied up animals.   
It was over in a matter of seconds. The Wraith's hand struck the animal, and it was too late for him to stop attempting to feed. Conner rolled clear and Murphy rushed to help him off the ground. They drew their weapons, but the Wraith seemed oddly frozen. The animal hadn't lasted long. It couldn't have been more than three or four years old at the most, but it was now the same sort of withered husk that was happened when a Wraith fed on a Human.


	24. The Choice

Conner and Murphy had seen many different marks over their years as shepherds for God. They had even learned that aliens who were people carried the marks as well, but they had only seen the sort of marks that this Wraith carried around him on young children, or those who were mentally handicapped. The drones hadn't had any marks at all, which made Conner think that like drones in other types of insect species, there wasn't much going on inside their brains. The Wraith knelt there on the ground, staring at the animal as though it had never seen one before.

"Conner, I think he didn't know that he could eat anything other than Humans," Murphy said in Gaelic.

"That would account for the marks of innocence and wrong deeds," Conner agreed. He switched back to English. "It's real lad. You ate the beastie, whatever it is, was." He wasn't sure just what type of herd animal it had been, or its purpose, but at least he did know it was an animal.

"How?" the Wraith whispered, confirming Murphy's theory.

"Your people didn't evolve eating just humans," Murphy told him. "They had to have eaten other animals because the cousins on your side of the family still set webs to catch their prey. They would have eventually died off if they no longer had prey, regardless of how long your people can sleep."

"Just like the cousins on our side of the family still scavenge for a variety of foods," Conner said.

The Wraith straightened up. "What do you mean, family?" Conner wasn't quite sure, seeing as how he'd never talked with a Wraith before, but he sounded very shaken.

"We all evolved from the Ancients, lad. Your people and ours, we just started out on different branches of the family tree. Your people evolved from the Iratus bug while ours evolved from primates, but the Ancients were the ones trying to steer the course for both our people by putting their own DNA in the mix," Conner said.

The Wraith turned colors, and Murphy wondered if that meant the same thing to a Wraith that it did to a human. "I have heard of your people. You claim to be the children of the Ancients. That you alone are their inheritors," the Wraith growled.

Conner recognized this tactic. Murphy pulled it often enough, trying to pick a fight when he was unsettled, worried or scared. "Nah, we're just the eldest," he said easily. "The Ancients started us off before they came to this galaxy. Then when they left here 10,000 years ago, the few Ancients that didn't ascend went back to Earth and had kids with the humans there. So you see, a few of us are children of the Ancients, just not anywhere near all of us, and for those of us who do it's only one aspect of our lives. There are a lot of things that are more important to us than who our ancestors thousands of years back were."

The Wraith looked shocked, and Murphy couldn't take it anymore. He burst out laughing. "They were just people lad, and they fucked up a lot. What's important was that the information that they knew doesn't die with them. We need to be careful and use that information wisely, just as you now must."

"What are you talking about?"

The Wraith was frustrated and distracted now, Conner could see. "You have a choice now. Will you continue to eat people, or will you eat animals that have no higher understanding?" he asked. "That is what we object to most you understand, that you can eat animals and yet choose to eat us instead." Although he and Murphy had drawn their zats, neither had one pointed at the Wraith just yet. This particular Wraith was at a crossroads, and he would need to choose his path before the brothers could decide what to do about him. "And let's face it; you really can't blame us for not wanting to be eaten."

"Especially when we're not the only things on the fucking menu," Murphy sarcastically pointed out.

"McManus?!"

'Fucking hell,' Conner thought. 'This is all we need.' The others had found them. It was Colonel Sheppard who had called of course, Teyla and Ronon would have used their first names. "Back off, he needs to make his choice without anyone interfering. Lad's had a huge shock and needs to process it."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Sheppard yelled, more confused and worried than angry Conner was glad to hear.  
Ronon said something Murphy took to mean 'fuck that shit', and really why had the Ancients been such prudes? A little cussing never hurt anyone. "It's a Wraith. It needs to die!"

"Don't make me shoot you Ronon," Murphy warned. "You know our calling. He hasn't made his decision yet and you need to let him." Ronon just growled, unable to back down with one of his enemies within reach. "Ronon, I'm warning ya!" Ronon started towards the Wraith. "Ronon!" Murphy yelled. "Fuck!" he snarled, shooting Ronon once with his zat.

"You shot him," the Wraith said in wonderment.

"Course," Conner said with a shrug. "You haven't made your decision. Getting zatted once won't hurt him none."

"Piss him off something fierce but nothing else," Murphy said with a shrug for what Ronon would do to him later.

"What decision must the Wraith make?" Teyla asked. She and Sheppard were holding their weapons on the Wraith and weren't even trying to hide it. If it made one wrong move they had every intention of killing it.

"He didn't know that he didn't have to eat Humans. Now he has to decide if he's going to keep eating them or not," Conner explained. "We can't let anyone interfere with his choice. It has to be made freely or it is no choice at all."

Sheppard and Teyla both nodded. "We'll take Ronon back to the village. The culling is over, but he should be able to get back to his hive fairly easily if he's going to keep eating people. I know at least one Dart landed with minimal damage," Sheppard said. He paused for a moment, weighing the risks. "If he does decide against eating humans, bring him back to the stargate with you. We'll take him with us when we leave."

Teyla stared at him. "I know," Sheppard said as he pulled Ronon into a fireman's carry. "Elizabeth will have my hide for bringing home another stray, but do you really think it would be right to send him back to his hive if he makes that choice? It'd be like sending an alcoholic to go live in a bar." The brothers could hear him trying to explain what an alcoholic was and why one living in a bar was bad as they left with Ronon.

It was plain that this shocked the Wraith almost as much as eating the animal had. "You shot him to protect my freedom to make a choice, and those two went along with it. Then the male invited me back to your new world?!?"

"A coerced choice is no choice at all," Conner said again.

"And free will is one of God's greatest gifts. We would not be serving him well if we did not defend your choice to choose," Murphy pointed out. He knew the Wraith would not understand his reference, but he did hope that the explanation would be satisfactory.

The Wraith looked once more at the remains of his meal. "I believe that I shall not be eating humans again, and I will travel with you to your new world. Your people are very… different from what I was told. Your views are quite strange and I think that I would like to learn more about you."

 

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Elizabeth focused on her breathing. If she could just keep her breathing nice and regular, she just might hold off this bout of morning sickness. Unfortunately she failed, and with a groan she got up from her desk and ran for the balcony. Retching over the side wasn't exactly what she wanted to do if she had to puke, but at least it was raining and Mother Nature could clean up the resulting mess.

She walked back into her office only to find Radek waiting for her with a towel and a cup of peppermint tea. "Who do you have spying on me Doctor Zelenka?" she mock growled. It wasn't that she liked the fact that someone was watching her, more like she was grateful that Radek cared enough to keep track and have what she needed ready when he could. Most other men that she knew would never have thought to do so.

Radek squirmed. "Actually, I think it is Atlantis," he admitted. He shoved his glasses up when Elizabeth looked puzzled. "Ever since the information that the Ancient's gestational unit was put into use was inputted into the database, there has been an unusual amount of power being diverted to the internal sensors. It isn't much," he hurried to reassure her. "There is no need to worry about that, but the sensors being used are always focused on the babies. When you ran out of your office, a bit of security tape was sent to my laptop. I think that this is another mark in the 'Atlantis has an AI we haven't found yet' column."

"Well," Elizabeth said as she finished drying her hair and took the cup, "the ATA carriers all insist that there is something there and feminizing it. If the city is alerting you to when I need some help, I'm certainly not going to object."

"It should not last much longer," Radek consoled her.

"The morning sickness I can get through." Elizabeth dismissed his guess with a wave as she settled down behind her desk. "It's the IOA inspection that I'm not too sure about." She sipped her tea as the thought sent her stomach rolling once more.

"We are being inspected?" Radek said, more resigned than surprised. Ever since they had married in a quiet little ceremony Radek had learned much more about her fights with the powers that be back on Earth. She nodded. "Do you think that we are in trouble, or that you are in trouble?" It was merely a matter of degree as to which was worse.

Elizabeth shrugged. "They want answers as to why we don't have more information on the Wraith, why the Wraith know so much about Earth, and so on and so forth. Basically I'm just hoping that this is nothing more than paying the price for backing them into a corner over the families. It really depends upon who they send."

"Stargate activated, it's Colonel Sheppard!" came from Chuck, who was monitoring the control room this shift.

"Ah, I see that my slave driver has returned," joked Radek. As he had hoped, it was enough to get her to laugh. "I will return in time to take you to lunch."


	25. Chapter 25

Colonel Sheppard wasn’t sure if he wanted the brothers to convert the Wraith to vegetarianism, (animalism?) or not. While having one Wraith abstaining from eating humans voluntarily wouldn’t mean much compared to all of the inhabitants of all the Wraith hives out there, he knew enough about history to know that everything began with just one person who had one radical idea. For a Wraith, not eating humans was about as radical as you could get.

While John was sure that the others on Atlantis would approve, (Carson hadn’t been the only person working on trying to find a way to make the Wraith do just that, although he’d finally given up his retro virus) they were still the enemy and inviting one home wouldn’t go over very well. Hell, Ronon had been zatted unconscious just so he wouldn’t try to take the Wraith out with his bare hands. He had to come up with something to say so that if the Wraith was coming with them, no one would kill him out of hand.

John glanced down at his unconscious team mate. Ronon was still out, but he wouldn’t be for much longer. He made a quick decision and dialed Atlantis. After sending through his IDC, and waiting for the acknowledgement, he opened his radio channel. “Atlantis, this is Sheppard. I’ve got some weird news over here, but I’m sending Ronon through first. He’s been zatted and he’s gonna wake up pissed as hell. I want him kept as far away from the rest of ART-1 as possible for now. He’s likely to tear Murphy in half and that’s the last thing I want to deal with.”

“Understood sir,” he heard from Lorne. John had always wondered just how it was possible that his XO was able to get so many meanings into just a few words. The ‘oh shit’ he really couldn’t blame Lorne for, after all Ronon made a habit of breaking Marines. The ‘oh lord, what’s my CO gotten into now’ wasn’t nice, but also something that he couldn’t blame Lorne for. Pegasus had a very bad habit of dumping on him and Lorne was usually the one stuck with cleaning up the mess. It was the ‘I’m going to have to kill Murphy’ and ‘that’s going to screw up my chances with Aislin’ that really made him want to smack Lorne for though. He had enough problems going on here. John didn’t need Lorne focusing on his love life or lack thereof.  
John heaved and threw/pushed Ronon through the gate.

“We’ve got him Colonel,” Elizabeth said.

“Ok, here’s the deal. The trade agreement went through, but just after we shook hands on it, the Wraith showed up. Things went about the way you’d expect them to, but some of the Darts were firing on other Darts, so I think we had two groups in orbit fighting over who got to cull this world. While they were duking it out, we managed to get the majority of the locals down to shelter. When I took a head count, the twins were missing. Ronon, Teyla and I went back out after them.”

John shook his head. Teyla and Rodney were headed up the trail and he could see Teyla was giving Rodney a sit-rep. “This is where it gets weird. By the time we found them the raid was long over with, but they were doing a stare down with a single Wraith, a male. The twins kept talking about a choice the Wraith needed to make, that’s when Ronon tried to take the Wraith out and Murphy stunned him. It turns out that the Wraith just found out the hard way that he can eat animals and he doesn’t have to eat humans. The twins were protecting his right to make that choice without interference. Right now I’m waiting to find out what his decision is. If the Wraith chooses not to eat humans, I invited him to come back with us, and before anyone gets their tights in a knot, remember that the twins can see if he’s lying to them or not.” John ran through what he’d covered in his head to make sure that he hadn’t left anything out.

There was a short silence that came over the radio, but before Rodney could get the rant that John could see about to explode out of him, Elizabeth said. “Good thinking Colonel. If we can get even one Wraith to stop feeding on humans, who knows what the end result might be?”

“Exactly what I was thinking Elizabeth,” John said. “Although honestly I don’t think we’ll ever get to the point where we can negotiate with them,” he warned. In the end it would still probably come down to killing off all of the Wraith that wanted to eat humans.

Teyla held up her hand and motioned to the tree line. Conner came into view, followed by the Wraith and Murphy. “Well, that answers that question,” John muttered. “Alright Atlantis, it looks like we’ve got a guest. Please have two Marines and at least two shepherds standing by for guest duty. I don’t want anyone to shoot him unless it’s warranted. We’ve got an opportunity here people. Don’t fuck it up.” John tilted his head at Teyla, telling her to get Rodney through the gate. She nodded at him and grabbed Rodney’s arm, pulling him through to Atlantis. The twins didn’t stop, just nodded as they passed Sheppard, escorting the Wraith through the gate. He followed them, the last member of ART-1 to leave the planet.

In Atlantis, everyone in the control room froze while Sheppard came through and the gate shut down. The Wraith had stepped down from the dais the gate was worked into, but had gone no further. No one seemed to want to step forward and greet their newest ‘guest’, but then neither was anyone trying to shoot him and risking Colonel Sheppard’s wrath.

It was one of the McManuses that finally stepped forward, a tiny little woman half the size of the twins and almost twice their age. She was also carrying a weapon almost as large as she was. She gave the Wraith a once over and nodded sharply. “Well, I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. The little shits can be taught. Alright boys, you know the drill. Take this one down to see the docs,” she told the twins. “And as for you,” she shook her finger at the Wraith. “You’ve taken the first step on a very long road boy. It’ll be a long time before anyone will trust you completely, but hold true to your course and the trust will come in time.”

“Yes Aunt Ciara,” Conner and Murphy said, each of them kissing her on the cheek in unison.

They all walked down to the infirmary, with four extra men following them, or more precisely the Wraith. Truthfully, the only ones that were completely relaxed were the twins; everyone else was keeping one eye on the Wraith as he followed Conner’s instructions and sat down on one of the gurneys. Conner and Murphy took the next gurney over, sharing it as had become usual for them.

The Wraith eyed the doctors and nurses as they ran the team through their post mission physicals. “This is normal?” he asked.

“Aye it is,” Carson answered him. As not only the head of medicine, but also as the doctor who had studied the Wraith the most, he was the doctor elected to do the Wraith’s physical. “We’ve had a few nasties get loose on our homeworld and we’ve learned to take precautions with everyone coming through the gate, no matter who they are.” He began running an Ancient portable medical scanner over his newest patient.

“Will you two stop doing that!?” Sheppard asked, exasperated. Conner and Murphy had been getting ready for the nurses to take blood by shrugging off their jackets, rolling up their sleeves and sticking a chewing stick in their mouths.  
The guards snickered at the twins’ confused looks. “What?” they asked.

“The only thing worse than the two of you doing things in unison is when you mirror each other,” Sheppard grumbled.

They shrugged, once more in unison. “Thirty five years Colonel,” Conner pointed out. “It’s not likely that we’re going to be able to change something we’ve not been able to control all those years.”

“Huh,” Carson said, looking at the scanner.

“What is it Carson?” McKay asked.

Carson glanced at his friend, knowing that if he didn’t get this under control quickly Rodney was likely to panic. Rodney was too smart for his own good most days, and he had terrible habit of thinking of everything that could go wrong and then babbling about it. “It looks like our friend here is in slightly better shape than the ones I examined after the siege. I hadn’t thought about it, but it is possible that although all Wraith have an advanced healing capability, their diet isn’t very healthy for them. Rather like you and powerbars,” Carson said, giving Rodney a knowing look.

“Oh come on! I only do that in an emergency when I can’t leave the lab,” Rodney protested.

“Nevertheless,” Carson went on above Rodney’s protesting his innocence, speaking to the Wraith, “if you don’t mind, I’d like to see if I can keep track of your health while you’re here in Atlantis. If I can get enough information I might be able to recommend a good diet for you…oh dear, Colonel?” Carson called.

“Yeah Doc?” John asked. He hated getting his blood drawn even if it was routine and really didn’t want to stay in the infirmary any longer than he had to.

“We need a name for our guest,” Carson pointed out. Wraith had no individual names; and few single positions within their hives.

“Why me?” John huffed.

“Because you’re the one who keeps naming them!” Rodney pointed out.

“Fine,” Sheppard drawled. “Your name while you’re with us is Michael,” he told the Wraith. “Happy now?” he asked the room at large.

“Nice, named after the Archangel,” Conner said approvingly.

“Yeah the biggest ass kicker of them all,” Murphy remembered out loud. “He’s also our family’s Patron Saint, for he is the Archangel of battle and defender of heaven against all that is evil.”

“All finished Michael,” Carson said, patting the newly named Wraith on the shoulder. No one mentioned that his hand was shaking just a little. “You can go with the Colonel now.”

The post mission briefing was less comfortable than usual with Michael in attendance, but they made do and told Elizabeth the basics of what had happened. Michael actually seemed to relax the longer the briefing went on. They soon found out why when he asked her if she were the Queen of Atlantis. “Not in the way that you mean, I don’t think,” Elizabeth said hesitantly. “I am the leader of our people, but it is only by chance that I am female. Our leaders are chosen from among those we believe have the best skills for that particular position. Doctor Beckett is our leader of medicine because he has both the medical skills and the leadership skills needed. Colonel Sheppard is the best person for leadership of our military. Doctor McKay is the best leader for our science team because he understands the most about the Ancients and how their technology works.

“Each of them has a second in command who would take over their positions if something were to happen to them, and their seconds have those who would take their place. Each of our people chooses an area that they enjoy or are very talented in as young adults, and they work hard to gain skills and experience in their chosen fields. As they advance in those skills and experience, they are given more responsibility until they have reached the place where they wish to be, or they have advanced as far as they are able.”

The idea was obviously a surprise to Michael. Elizabeth smiled. “You are free to ask any questions you may have Michael. If we don’t want to tell you the answer to your question, we’ll tell you that. As Mrs. O’Connell said, while you’ve taken the first steps towards gaining our trust, you don’t have it completely yet, but we’ll tell be as honest as we can be under these circumstances.”

“That is far more than I expected,” admitted Michael.

“In that case, you are free to wander around Atlantis as long as you stay in the unrestricted areas, do not try to lose your guards and do not attempt to injure anyone,” Elizabeth said, outlining exactly what was expected of him. Michael took that as a dismissal and left, trailing his four guards. “Whooo,” she collapsed back into her chair. “Why is it that none of you can go through the gate without finding some kind of excitement?”

Almost as one the five present members of ART-1 shrugged. “If you don’t mind my asking,” Murphy piped up. “Where’s Ronon? I’d kind of like to avoid him for a while.”

Elizabeth and nearly everyone else threw him a ‘no shit’ look. No one wanted Ronon on their case if it could be avoided. “He’s over in Little Tripoli, breaking the new Marines,” Lorne admitted.

“When he calms down a little, would you remind him that I did warn him more than once?” Murphy asked.

“Third strike, you’re out,” agreed Conner.

“Well on that cheerful note, I’ll see you all later,” Elizabeth said, dismissing them. “Oh and Conner, Murphy, I saw that you got something in the last databurst.”

Conner quickly pulled out his tablet and accessed their account. The others crowded around, knowing what the men were hoping the message was. “It’s from Ma,” he said and Murphy grabbed him by the back of the neck, pulling their heads together.  
‘Boys, we’re coming to live on that base with you. If the rest of the family can come we’d better be welcome too. I’m getting too old to do this again. Taking care of you two as babies was hard enough.’ That was all the email contained.

The others were busy congratulating them, until Teyla asked them why they were so quiet. “Ma didn’t swear at us,” Conner said, obviously worried now that they were looking.

“And she spelled everything right, which means she was stone cold sober,” Murphy added, just as solemn as his brother. “That’s not normal for our Ma. She’s got to be about ready to fall over dead if she hasn’t been drinking.”

“Aye,” Conner said. “They’ll probably be on the next trip of the Daedalus. We’ll need to have everything ready before they get here. Anybody up for helping us to move?”


	26. Chapter 26

Richard Woolsey had been born a bureaucrat. Few things made him happier than an office full of orderly paperwork filled out with the minutia of daily life. Once it had seemed likely that he would spend the rest of his life in a cubical in Washington D.C. tracking down the misuse of military funds. He could have been very happy doing so, but certain men in what they thought were powerful positions had tried to use him to bring the leaders of the Stargate program to heel. It had backfired spectacularly, because above all else, even his love of rules and regulations, Richard Woolsey was an honest and honorable man.

This was the reason he had become the American President’s representative to the IOA and the one bureaucrat that was actually more welcomed than tolerated by the SGC. Now he was being sent to Atlantis along with two other IOA representatives to inspect the base and to find out just why Doctor Weir had insisted on hiring people with families. She had blackmailed the IOA into allowing those families to be brought along by threatening to throw two of the scientists out of Atlantis, sending them back to Earth. It was not a move that he would have ever predicted that she would make.

While Woolsey did not like the thought of blackmail at these levels of government, he was also very aware that sometimes it was needed, as long as there was a good reason for it and there was no other recourse. He simply could not imagine a situation where that was the case here. He stepped out of the food line into the mess hall and looked around for a place to sit. Normally he would have chosen a seat with the other two representatives, but here was an opportunity that he hadn’t yet had.

Two women and three children were on board the Daedalus traveling to join the other families in Atlantis. They were the only complete civilians traveling on this particular voyage of the Daedalus, and it was his understanding that the reason for the delay of their travel had been due to the younger woman’s pregnancy. As she had two newborns with her, he could understand her being under travel restrictions before their birth. Right now the older woman was nowhere to be seen and she was attempting to deal with all three children by herself.

Woolsey sat his tray across from hers and gently took one of the babies from the travel seat on the table. Before the woman could come across the table and strangle him, he said, “It looks like you could use some help. May I?” He reached into the diaper bag and removed a bottle, expertly snapping off the top and offering the nipple the fussy baby. This changed the woman’s expression from murder to thankfulness.

“Danke schon!” the woman said with a smile. “Gretchen McManus,” she added, pointing to herself.

‘Well, that was certainly unexpected,’ Woolsey thought. He’d understood that the civilians that Doctor Weir had hired were Irish, not German; although her last name probably meant that she’d married into the same family as the ones he’d been told about. “You’re welcome,” he replied in German. He was thankful that he’d studied the language and spoke it fairly well. “I’m Richard Woolsey. Boy or girl?” he asked, nodding to the child in his arms.

“All three of my little devils are boys,” Gretchen replied with a smile as she wrestled a piece of jam covered toast away from her eldest and continued to feed her other baby. She grabbed a wet napkin and washed her son’s face. He scrunched up his face and crossed his arms, but sat still for the procedure. As Woolsey had seen her tap her son smartly on the head when he’d disobeyed two days earlier, he thought it spoke well of the child’s intelligence. Most children didn’t learn that sort of acceptance of the inevitable until much later. “We are going to Atlantis to live with my husbands there.”

Woolsey ignored his translation mistake and asked, “Are you sure that this is the right thing to do? Atlantis is in the middle of a war zone and has been attacked before.”

His concern showed through his awkward manner, so Gretchen wasn’t offended. “It is just as dangerous at home if we travel more than fifty miles Mr. Woolsey, perhaps even more so. In Atlantis I will not have to be worried about car bombs, or drive by shootings, or my family being caught between two groups who have not been able to come to a full peace in centuries,” she said, referring to the violence that was never truly resolved in Ireland. It was still possible to start a brawl just by talking about something that had happened two centuries before. “Besides, from what I understand living in Atlantis will be helpful for my children to learn their heritage.”

“Simply because your children are likely to be ATA positive hardly strikes me as a good reason to move them out to Atlantis,” Richard said in disbelief.

Gretchen smirked. “Their heritage has nothing to do with Atlantis or being ATA positive, Mr. Woolsey. It has everything to do with being a son of clan McManus. Either Jacob or the twins will be called, as their fathers, grandfather and great-grandfather were. In Atlantis they will not have to hide their lessons.” Richard looked at her in confusion, but she merely smiled and went back to feeding her children.

saints-sga-saints-sga-saints-sga-saints

Michael stayed for two weeks. During that time he was very open about his people, which allowed the Lantians to gather some much needed information. There were 834 hive groups in Pegasus, most of which were older and more established than his own. A new hive was created when a Wraith Queen reached puberty, her mother sending her off with a single cruiser and enough drones and males to operate the ship.

This ship would become the starting point of a new hive. Each new queen was capable laying up to 50 eggs a day. Most of these eggs would produce drones, but a good percentage would be males. Females were the rarest eggs laid, usually only one in every 100,000. Drones reached maturity in two years, males in four and queens in six. Their rapid growth and reproductive rates were greatly reduced in comparison to their Iratus cousins, who matured in weeks and laid thousands of eggs at a time, which meant that the Lantians would not be facing the entomologists’ worst case guesses. Unfortunately it was still a greater rate of production than their most optimistic guess.

Michael also exchanged cultural information with the anthropologists, telling them the story of the Ancient/Wraith war from the Wraith point of view. There was a great deal of bitterness there, and while that bitterness was not totally unexpected, Michael was now questioning just how much of the story was accurate. In an attempt to soften the blows Michael was now experiencing, Kate Heightmeyer tried to explain to him that most likely the Wraith who were still around from that time had told themselves the story for so long that they actually believed it. The lies that a person told themselves were often the hardest to see through.

Doctor Beckett ran extensive tests on Michael, with his permission and participation, before and after he had fed on various animals of different sizes and species. The Athosians participated in the experiments by bringing in live caught animals, mainly because they did not wish for those living in the city to be threatened by having a hungry Wraith nearby. Those who observed the daily experiments were often shocked and beyond furious when the experiments were explained to them. They made the connection that their people had been living with the threat of culling for ten thousand years, simply because Wraith preferred to eat humans.

That Michael was choosing to turn his back on this practice was something that both Halling and Teyla formally thanked him for. They would never be friends, but even if no other Wraith took up his choice knowing that one Wraith was honorable enough to stop when he learned that he didn’t have to eat humans was something that they could appreciate. They understood far more than the Earth born who had only recently been exposed to the deprivations of the Wraith as a whole just how difficult a choice it was for him.

Michael in turn apologized for the humans he had killed once he had learned just what it was that he had been destroying. He had been raised with the notion that humans were not only inferior simply because they were food, but also that somehow they were not intelligent enough to be ‘real people’. It was an all too common attitude towards ordinary people by conquerors of all sorts.

Doctor Beckett’s examinations and feeding experiments produced rather unique results. Michael was actually much stronger and had an increased ability to focus the greater the variety of animals he fed on. He was restricted to animals over a certain size, as creatures smaller than a mid-sized dog wasted more energy than they produced, but that was the only restriction.

“Basically what I’m getting from these readings is that eating humans for a Wraith is rather like living off of sugar or alcohol would be for a human,” Carson explained, showing Michael the results of his latest scan. “Tastes or feels good, but ultimately is very bad for your health. From a medical stand point I’d recommend that you eat at least one large animal and several different smaller ones a week, say three or four depending upon their size. They should all be different species, and try to rotate so that you’re not eating the same species more than twice a month if you can. Also while it would be very easy for you to survive being separated from your hive now that you know what’s best to eat, it isn’t good for you mentally.”

Carson sighed, and patted Michael on the shoulder, finding the gesture far easier after two weeks of working with the Wraith. “Your people are far more social than even the most social teenaged butterfly of a human. You need the mental contact that is normal among your own people. If there was a way to duplicate that here, I’d tell Rodney and Radek and I’m sure they’d whip up some way to make sure that you had it, but there isn’t. My recommendation is that you go home, find out what is happening with your hive, and if you can convert as many of your people as you need to make a healthy mental web. It would be best if you could convert the whole hive, but I’m not counting on it and you shouldn’t either.”

“You don’t think that they’d prefer to find a way to not starve to death?” Michael asked, genuinely curious.

“Lad, it’s not that I don’t wish that all of your people would suddenly stop eating us, pull their heads out of their collective superiority complex and learn some decent livestock management and population control, but let’s be realistic. Not one single one of the older ones want to change and most of the younger ones like yourself aren’t going to be listening simply because eating humans feels too good to stop. It’s probably very addicting, otherwise why would the old ones have kept doing it in the first place?” Carson asked.

Michael understood what Carson was saying far more than any human ever could, but he still had a question for the doctor. “What is population control?”

Carson drew his hand down his face. Of course Michael didn’t know what he was talking about. The Wraith were great examples of a species eating themselves out of house and home. “Population control means deliberately not having more people than your resources can support. In the case of your people, that means your prey’s numbers must always equal at a minimum 120 times your people’s numbers. You need sixty animals per Wraith per year plus a breeding population based on the diet I just gave you. If you keep those numbers current none of you will have to go into hibernation if you don’t want to.”


	27. Chapter 27

Ronon had been living in hell for the last two weeks. Not only had he been stunned by one of his own team, that same team member had brought a Wraith, A WRAITH! to his new home. Only two things kept him from killing Murphy McManus. The first was that he had seen Murphy and Conner’s gift with his own eyes. They had picked out that child defiler within moments of walking into the village, with no prior knowledge of who was there, and had still known which one he was and what he’d done.

If the brothers said the Wraith didn’t know that he could eat animals, then Ronon was prepared to accept their word. If the damned thing was now eating animals instead, Ronon was willing to accept that as well. What he was not willing to do was have it anywhere near him and not kill it. He didn’t care whether or not the creature was willing to change its ways. It was a Wraith and he had sworn to kill every Wraith he could.

The second thing was that Murphy had warned him, and more than once. Ronon wouldn’t have given someone that many warnings. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure that he would have even given the first one, especially if he was only going to stun them like Murphy had stunned him. That didn’t mean he had to make nice with the damned thing, which had led to him not pulling his hits as much as he usually did when he sparred with the Earth born Marines out of sheer frustration at being ordered not to kill the Wraith. He’d had Sheppard and Lorne in his face about breaking their Marines, but he couldn’t leave Atlantis while Sheppard and the rest of his team might be in danger from the Wraith and he was dealing with the situation as best as he could.

Somehow Ronon wasn’t surprised when Murphy and Conner showed up late one night at the door to the main gym. He hadn’t been able to sleep so he was punching the heavy bag, trying to beat out some of his frustration. “Who told you I was here?” he asked. It was a valid question; at two in the morning the only ones up were usually the guards on night duty. In fact, it was obvious from the way that Conner was leaning against the door and yawning, along with the fact that they were only dressed in jeans and nothing else, that they’d been sleeping.

“Atlantis,” Murphy answered, much more awake than his twin. “The lady’s worried about you.”

“Aye,” Conner agreed sleepily.

“Why didn’t she get Sheppard then?” Ronon asked. Even with all of the mila poppaaem in the city, Sheppard remained Atlantis’ favorite. Once he would have laughed at the idea of a city, even one belonging to the Ancestors, having a favorite person, but Sheppard and Atlantis had changed that. Whenever they’d had a bad mission, they’d lost someone, or Sheppard was just plain upset, Atlantis was perfectly capable and willing to hide him from everyone.

Ronon knew for a fact, having been on a balcony opposite Sheppard’s quarters, that Atlantis had locked Sheppard in his quarters one night, played some kind of music and promptly ‘lost’ him to all sensors and communications for eighteen hours straight. Sheppard had only meant to sleep for eight. As it had been the first chance Sheppard had in three days to sleep, Ronon had been pleased with Atlantis’ priorities, no matter how McKay had howled about his sensors or Elizabeth had fussed about needing to keep track of the Colonel. When the enemy was gone, a man needed his rest. Now he was a bit humbled to learn that the city was concerned enough about him to keep track of his sleepless nights.

Conner snorted. “Even the lady knows you’ve been itching to take Murphy on after he stunned you. He’s been jumpy for the last two weeks wondering when you’d be ready to take him on. I thought you’d be in his face an hour after you’d woke up.”

“Sheppard kept me away for a week until I’d calmed down, and then you were with that Wraith,” Ronon growled.

“We were on guard detail!” Murphy protested. “Sheppard wanted one of the family with him at all times to make sure he wasn’t gonna try nothing!”

“I know,” Ronon admitted. “You know what they did to me. Sheppard’s not stupid. I wouldn’t follow him if he was, but I can’t be anywhere near one without wanting to kill it.”

“Don’t expect you to,” Conner said. “Staying away from him was all we could ask of you.” Murphy nodded. They did understand the sort of rage that being a Runner could do to a man, in a way it was very similar to the rage that their father suffered from after being locked up in prison with men who wanted to kill him at every turn for twenty four years. It had taken the years that he’d worked with them in the States before he was calm enough to return home to their mother.

“How soon will your family get here?” Ronon asked, abruptly changing the subject. He’d heard that the twin’s mother, wife and children were coming to Atlantis from Teyla.

“They’re coming in on the Daedalus this trip, so sometime in the next few days,” Murphy said, almost bouncing in his anticipation. While the trip from Earth to Atlantis took three weeks, there were always a couple of days leeway as anything from the loading of supplies to an attack by the Go’uald could delay the ship or speed up its launch by days.

“I want to knock you through a wall,” Ronon said flatly. Murphy held his arms out, clearly inviting Ronon to take his best shot. “You gave me warning.”

“Course he did,” Conner said, a bit huffy that anyone would think that his brother wouldn’t give someone a fair warning.

“I wouldn’t have,” Ronon admitted. “Let’s spar.” It was all the apology that he was going to give and the brothers seemed to understand, because they both grinned and Conner slid down to sit down on the floor.

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As Richard Woolsey walked down the gangway of the Daedalus, he wasn’t impressed with the beauty of the Lost City of the Ancients. He was too busy watching the people around him to notice it. The Marines were easy to spot, being very busy with the practical issues of getting new supplies and personnel. The scientists were a much more undisciplined group, but were nevertheless quickly getting down to the business of getting themselves and their supplies organized. It was the civilians that had him completely confused.

Woolsey had been only expecting members of the McManus family, whom he could easily spot in their t-shirts and jeans helping the Marines to unload cargo, but there were many, many more civilians than those thirty people could account for. He had been caught up in trying to figure out who these people were that he almost missed the reason he’d decided to delay his own disembarking.

Gretchen McManus, her three sons and the older woman Woolsey had learned was her mother in law were walking down the gangway in front of him, and it was only little Jacob’s squeal of “DA! DA!” that alerted him to the scene he had wanted to observe. Two men in white t-shirts and jeans were kneeling down and hugging the small boy. ‘Oh dear,’ he thought to himself.

With all of the gentle praise and blushing Gretchen had done over her husband, Woolsey had never expected that he would be a ruffian, to use an old fashioned phrase. Even from this distance he could see the men’s tattoos, not to mention the weapons they both were wearing. The only things missing were cigarettes and motorcycles, neither of which was available in Atlantis. Gretchen had said that he was a translator with Doctor Weir’s translation team and that he spoke nine languages including Ancient. Neither of the two men looked like the linguists he was used to. They looked much more like off duty bodyguards to the IOA representative.

Just then Gretchen reached the two men and they stood up, the lighter haired man carrying Jacob. The passionate kiss that she gave both men startled Woolsey enough that he stopped dead for a moment. ‘I guess I didn’t translate that wrong then,’ Woolsey thought embarrassed that he had simply assumed that Gretchen was married to one man when she’d told him she was married to two. He began walking again as the two men took the babies in their carriers from the two women, giving the older woman a kiss on the cheek as they did so.

‘Brothers then,’ Woolsey decided. ‘Now which of the McManus men were brothers?’ he wondered and began mentally reviewing the files that he’d been given. He stopped dead once more, appalled this time, but at least he was on the pier by the rail over the water and out of the flow of traffic. There were three sets of brothers who had come to Atlantis. One was a pair of older and younger brothers who were separated by a decade, the younger brother just having graduated from a trade school. These men were the same age. One of the other brothers was married with school aged children and his younger brother was the Atlantis base chaplain, a Catholic priest. The last pair of brothers was the set of twins, vigilante sons of a hit man. Was this the legacy that Gretchen had spoken of?

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The twins had been excused from unloading duty with the Marines by Colonel Sheppard so that they could meet their family when they came off the Daedalus. Standing alone on the pier with all of Atlantis, or at least it seemed like it, Murphy couldn’t help but bounce a bit in excitement. It had been nearly a year since he and Conner had seen their wife, son and mother, and now there were the new twins to be introduced to.

That had been an interesting bit of wrangling. Ever since Gretchen’s doctor, yet another member of their extensive family, had announced that they were having twins, there had been a fight over what to name the boys. Jacob had been named to honor their father and grandfather, both called to the Lord’s service and who had died at the hands of evil men, although Noah had died after his first grandson had been born and so had been alive to appreciate the honor. No one wanted to follow tradition and name the first born of the twins after Gretchen’s father, so it was much harder to come up with names for the boys.

Murphy had wanted to name the boys Breandan Malachi and Kevin Liam. Conner had wanted to name them Lorcan Connall and Padraic Deaglan. Gretchen had wanted Redmond Reilly and Sean Bartley. Annabelle had wanted Ferdia Aedan and Brian Cearul. They’d fought for weeks back and forth over the data bursts with their mother and wife and in wrestling matches with each other. Gretchen had won with Redmond Reilly for the first born and Murphy had won with Breandan Malachi for the second, as those were the two names closest to tradition without actually naming the boys after her father and Murphy and Conner.

Finally Jacob ran over to them and they both swept him up in the biggest group hug they could give him. “Missed you so much little man,” Conner whispered in his ear.

“Aye we did,” agreed Murphy. “Now, did you take care of your Ma and Gran like we told you to?”

“Uh huh, see!” Jacob exclaimed, wiggling in excitement. “And the babies too!” He pointed behind him where Gretchen and Annabelle were only a few steps away.

Murphy let Conner take Jacob and swept Gretchen up in a kiss, taking the baby carrier out of her arms to do so. He passed his wife to his brother and reached for his mother, pulling her into a crushing hug. “We’re here Ma.” Conner pulled the baby carrier out of his mother’s hands and joined his twin in hugging their mother. It had been a very long nine months.


	28. Chapter 28

As usual on Daedalus day, the infirmary was a mad house. There were over fifty new members of the Atlantis expedition to process, not to mention the twenty members returning from Earth leave and the five members of the McManus family, a larger number than usual. To keep their family out of the crush, the twins moved them over to the small alcove that held the baby machines. Ronon and Teyla were there, keeping an eye on the babies and the new personnel. “Taking a look at your new toys Ronon?” Murphy joked. As was their custom he and Conner traded off translating for Gretchen.

Ronon grunted; his attention on the Marines. Teyla laughed. “We are protecting the babies from unintentional injury as well as observing the new personnel from Earth.” She looked pointedly at the twins, her eyes flickering to the other ladies and Jacob.

It was Conner who took the hint. “Teyla, Ronon, this is Gretchen and Annabelle McManus, our wife and mother. These are our sons; Jacob, Redmond, and Breandon.” He turned to his family. “Teyla and Ronon are two of our team mates. We’re all part of Atlantis Recon Team 1. The other two members you’ll meet later.”

“Aye, Colonel Sheppard and Doctor McKay are busy getting their new people settled in,” Murphy explained. “The Colonel is in charge of the military around here, and us because of the deal we made. Doctor McKay is in charge of all of the scientists.”

“What babies?” Jacob piped up. He’d been peering around his fathers’ legs looking for a crib or something, but couldn’t see anything that he recognized as a place to put a baby.

Teyla smiled and knelt down to the young child. “My babies and my sister-friend’s baby are growing in these machines.” She pointed at the two machines at the back of the alcove. “They were built by the Ancestors to help those who cannot have a child the usual way. Would you like to see them?” Jacob nodded frantically. He was completely awestruck at the idea of babies growing inside a machine. Teyla led him over to the machine that held her daughters and lifted him up so that he could see inside the window.

“Conner, Murphy, did you bring me some new patients?” a cheerful voice with a deep southern drawl asked from behind the group. A very petite woman with long blond hair tied up in braids in a bun at the back of her neck and deep blue eyes smiled at them.

“For sure we have Doctor,” Conner said proudly. “This is Jacob, Redmond and Breandon, your new patients, and their mother Gretchen and our Ma, Annabelle McManus. Everyone, this is Doctor Holbrook, she’s the pediatrician for Atlantis.”

“I’m so glad to meet all of you,” she said. “Why don’t we go over to my office and get out of this rush, ok?” Doctor Holbrook’s office was in a small room at one end of the infirmary, well away from the chaos happening in the main treatment area.

“Are you a baby doctor?” Jacob wanted to know. Conner helped him up onto the examination table.

“Well, I take care of people from the time they’re born until they’re grownups,” Doctor Holbrook said. “My partner, Doctor Felder takes care of babies before they’re born and their mommies. I think that makes both of us baby doctors. What do you think?” She had out her tablet and was making a lot of notes, setting up files for all three children.

Jacob pondered her question as she ran him through a quick physical using mostly Ancient equipment, which was less invasive for the most part. “I think bof of you are baby doctors,” he pronounced seriously when she was done.

“Why thank you Jacob,” she said with a grin. “Now, since you were a good boy and didn’t fuss you get a piece of fruit.” She produced a large basket overflowing with Pegasus fruit. “I know it isn’t lollipops, but we can’t get them out here very often and I still haven’t figured out how to make them from what we’ve got around here,” she explained seriously. She felt it was best to let Jacob know up front that there were a lot of things that were scarce around here that he had probably taken for granted before. While Jacob examined the basket with a look of dubiousness, Doctor Holbrook moved on to examine the twins.

“What’s this?” Jacob asked, holding up a stick.

Conner snickered while Murphy blushed a little. “Those are your Da’s favorites,” Conner teased. “They’re chewing sticks and they taste kinda like a banana and a pineapple mixed up together.”

While Conner went over the contents of the basket with Jacob explaining everything that was in it, Doctor Holbrook went over the results of the physicals with the rest of the family. “Everything looks good, but it looks like both of the twins were having allergic reactions to something back on Earth. I’d like to make an appointment with you for later this week so I can run some allergy tests. If we’re lucky, whatever it was is something that isn’t in Pegasus. I can tell you it was environmental as they’re still nursing.”

“That’s what caused the colic?” Annabelle asked, relieved to finally have an answer to why the twins were so difficult to get to settle down.

Doctor Holbrook nodded. “Did they have any trouble on the Daedalus?”

Gretchen shook her head and said something in German. “She said not after the first week. They started calming down within the first couple of days, but the colic stopped completely by the end of the fifth day,” Murphy translated.

“It’s definitely something environmental then. Everything is very strictly regulated on the Daedalus. I’ll check with Lieutenant Novak to see what they were exposed to during the trip. The last thing you need to know is that all three boys are strongly ATA positive, so I’m warning you now, Atlantis loves children and she will do her best to take care of them. If the boys want the lights on, they’ll probably stay on, she’ll play their favorite music, let them through doors that are locked, stuff like that. Get Conner or Murphy to tell Atlantis when to knock it off. The good news is that she’s very strict about safety protocols. They won’t be able to talk her into letting them go somewhere dangerous or get into something that’s dangerous for them. Two of the Genii kids are ATA positive, although not as strong as your three, so I do know what I’m talking about with this.”

“Girl, do you ever stop smiling?” Annabelle asked. This woman doctor was more cheerful than her boys after pulling a successful prank.

“Only during a Wraith attack,” she admitted cheerfully. “If you’d like I can get yours and Gretchen’s baseline so you can get out of here without having to deal with the mob.” Both women gratefully agreed and that was taken care of by the time Jacob had finally picked out one of the chewing sticks from the basket.

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Sergeant Broomer and two privates had taken Mr. Woolsey, Miss Huang and Mr. Skoglund to their assigned guest quarters, showing them how everything worked and generally settling them in before their meeting with Doctor Weir. Personally the sergeant was glad that Doctor Weir was accompanied by at least one shepherd, if not two while she was on duty. He knew Woolsey; the man was ok for a paper pusher. The other two however, made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. A man learned to trust his instincts when he worked on an off world team, and his were telling him not to trust these two. The only questions that he was concerned about were whether or not these two were eligible to become targets for the shepherds and if they were, would he be able to arrange a suitable ‘accident’ to explain how they died without getting them all into trouble.

After giving the IOA representatives time to unpack, Broomer led the way to the command center. He knew that Doctor Weir would be in her office waiting for them. Walking into the command center he was pleased to see that everything looked good for the inspection. The guards were standing at attention without losing their primary focus of watching for trouble. The geek manning the gate controls was maintaining an almost military level of alertness and tidiness. ‘Doctor McKay must have said something,’ Broomer grinned to himself. It was well known that few of the scientists were brave enough, or stupid enough, to ignore Doctor McKay’s orders.

Broomer knocked on Doctor Weir’s office door and ushered in the IOA representatives in when he heard her acknowledgment. “Doctor Weir? The IOA reps are here,” he said, voluntarily giving the civilian head of the expedition a salute.

“Thank you sergeant,” Elizabeth said as she looked up. The sergeant nodded and left the room leaving the three civilians behind. Seeing Woolsey was a relief. If he’d been sent then there was a good chance that she had some room to work. The man was honest to a fault, although he was a stickler for the rules. Huang was someone she could work with, although she’d have to keep an eye on her at all times. The woman wouldn’t hesitate to stab anyone in the back if she thought it would help her to achieve her goals. Skoglund was probably the worst possible person that the IOA could have sent. As far as he was concerned, Earth was the only planet of importance and anyone not born there was automatically and simultaneously discounted as beneath him and watched with xenophobic suspicion that the alien was only out to cause trouble for Earth. They were the best and the worst possible from the IOA. Still, she thought she could make this work, given half a chance.

“Hello everyone, welcome to Atlantis,” Elizabeth said warmly.

“You did not meet us at the Daedalus,” Huang remarked, her voice chilly.

“It’s Daedalus day, Miss Huang,” Elizabeth replied serenely. “There are procedures that have to be followed, and that includes my staying out of the way of my subordinates so that they can get their work done. The last thing we need is for anything to delay the unloading of supplies and personnel as it is a strategic weak point in our supply line.  
“Now, there have been some changes since you left Earth that the three of you should be made aware of,” Elizabeth said, changing the subject. She wasn’t going to indulge Huang or anyone else in pointless self grandstanding.   
“Does this include the reason there are so many civilians around here?” Woolsey asked; a disturbed look on his face as he looked out of the windows of her office.

“Mr. Woolsey, those are our refugees. I know that I informed the IOA of their presence here,” Elizabeth said; slightly alarmed at his ignorance.

“I was under the impression that most of the refugees who chose to stay on Lantia moved to the mainland with the Athosians,” Woolsey said.

“That was true until the Genii leadership was killed,” Elizabeth said. “Most of those that survived their encounter with the mila poppaaem were in poor enough health that Doctor Beckett refused to allow them to leave Atlantis. As most of them were technicians or at least had some technical skills, they’ve been making themselves as useful as they can. Most of them who are mobile are working in the greenhouses and taking on any unskilled chores they can. You wouldn’t believe how many of them are willing to wash dishes and sweep floors.”

“Is that why you’ve got bodyguards?” Skoglund asked; looking over at the two men who were leaning against the back wall of Elizabeth’s office.

“The Genii here in Atlantis are no threat to me or anyone else. They all have some form of cancer. Without the treatment they are getting from Doctor Beckett they’ll die and they know it.” Elizabeth sighed over the seriousness of that situation. Then she grinned wryly. “The bodyguards are mostly ceremonial. Colonel Sheppard got tired of trying to figure out who was available from his men and the security teams to stand in when visitors showed up. Now I have two bodyguards whenever I’m on duty and when I’m not, two stand guard on my office so it at least looks like my people treat me the way the people of this galaxy think I should be treated. It’s nothing more than a pain, but it keeps those officials I have to deal with from being insulted so I put up with it.”

“Why would they be insulted and why should you have to put up with them?” Skoglund wanted to know.

“Because making them deal with someone of lesser rank is an insult,” Elizabeth explained. “Leaders only deal with leaders so I have to look like a leader. As for why I put up with them Mr. Skoglund, it is part of my job here to find as many diplomatic alliances as possible. The only way we are going to defeat the Wraith is to work together.”


	29. Chapter 29

The inspection began with, naturally enough, the paperwork. Although technically Skoglund wasn’t qualified to make a determination, he began with the military reports. Huang requested, or rather demanded although it was worded as a request, access to the scientific mission reports, papers the scientists had written, (those would eventually be sorted through and classified to certain levels of access for Earth’s scientists), and the reports on the Atlantis database project. Woolsey buried himself in the minutia of the administrative reports, including the repairs Atlantis had needed, the cause of each malfunction, and time required for each repair. They were also given reports on the events of the last three weeks.

They had taken over the conference room, and Elizabeth was happy to remain and do her work from there once her guards indicated that they were staying. Technically the McManus cousins might have been ceremonial bodyguards, but in reality they were there to guard her and Atlantis from those who were their targets. The guards rarely did anything but follow her around, so if they were staying regardless of whether she did, that meant that at least one of the IOA representatives was a legitimate target. If she had a choice, Elizabeth knew she wanted it to be Skoglund. Huang she could work with, but Skoglund with his xenophobic and manifest destiny reactions would be next to impossible.

“Doctor Weir, who wrote the final reports for the science team incidents? The person is using acronyms that I am not familiar with,” Huang said. “It also does not read as though Doctor McKay wrote it.” The disapproval and suspicion were clear in her voice.

“Doctor McKay dictates his reports to his assistant Doctor Dex, often while he is working on another project,” Elizabeth replied. “I’m aware that she cleans up a lot of his more colorful speech patterns for the incident reports. As for the acronyms, there are several that we commonly use. Which ones do you need the full term for?”

“I thought that Doctor Kusanagi was Doctor McKay’s assistant,” Woolsey said. He wondered if the poor woman had been demoted or killed. Doctor Weir had threatened to throw her out of Atlantis after all.

“She is, Dex is her married name,” Elizabeth explained. “That information is in her personnel file, along with the other details of her marriage to Specialist Ronon Dex.”

“But he’s an alien!” Skoglund exclaimed. From the dirty looks that Woolsey and Huang shot him, they did not agree with his feelings on the subject.

Huang put her question forward so that discussion could be avoided. She did not want to hear Skoglund go on and on about aliens and his personal theories once more. “What is AWAT? It is the most frequently occurring acronym.”

“Accident with Ancient technology, the most frequent of which are electrical burns. The more unusual accidents only happen about once a month, such as Lieutenant Cadman’s experience of her mind being rematerialized inside Doctor McKay’s brain, although that was Wraith technology rather than Ancient.” Elizabeth was so calm as she said this that the IOA people didn’t realize the implications for a moment.

“What is AAAT?” Skoglund asked while the other two were silent.

“Accidental activation of Ancient tech,” Elizabeth said. “We have at least one high percentage ATA gene carrier on each recon team, and more than one if we can. It’s quite easy for them to find themselves accidentally turning things on when exploring Ancient ruins around Pegasus.”

“And you don’t think that either of these situations are a matter of concern, especially considering the frequency and inherent dangers involved?” Woolsey asked, actually disappointed in her behavior.

Elizabeth leaned forward. “Mr. Woolsey, that’s what we’re here for, exploring this galaxy and learning Ancient tech; how it works, what each item is supposed to do, how they thought about life, the universe and everything to mangle the quote. We can’t do that by sitting on our hands. We have to get out there and explore. Handling these items and yes, turning them on and finding out sometimes that it doesn’t do what we thought it did, is a huge part of that.

“I am not downplaying the danger, but we do have protocols to help minimize that danger and we take precautions to insure that civilians, either here in Atlantis or off world, are exposed to that danger as little as possible. Here in Atlantis, all new tech is taken directly to the labs, regardless of what it looks like it might do. Those labs are completely off limits to everyone who does not have the proper security clearance to avoid injuries. No one who does have the proper clearance is going to be careless with safety issues.

“For instance, recently we had an Ancient toy being examined in the labs. It was fairly obvious that it had been the Ancient equivalent of a G.I. Joe but it was taken down to the labs to be examined anyway. Unfortunately someone triggered some of its programming without being aware of what that programming was and it started shooting at the scientists in the lab. Two of our ATA positive personnel went down to the labs to shut it down. No one was hurt. It was taken care of within ten minutes and was a minor incident. That is what our safety procedures and protocols are designed to do.” Satisfied that she’d shut them up for a moment about how careless she was with her people, she went back to work.

Several hours later Murphy stuck his head in the doorway to the conference room. “Hey Doctor Weir, it’s time for dinner. You gonna eat with us or do you need someone on duty?” he asked. A small, dark haired head peered around Murphy’s.

‘This has to be Jacob, his and Conner’s older son,’ Elizabeth realized. “I’m sure that dinner in the little tower’s gardens would be a good place to start the physical inspection. Let me just put this up,” she said as she gathered her work. Here in Atlantis there wasn’t much paper. All of the ‘paper work’ was done on laptops so that the forms could be compressed and sent to the SGC through the databursts. That meant that it didn’t take long for her and for the other five people in the room to get ready.

Elizabeth wasn’t a fool. She saw the looks that passed between the three McManus cousins and the way that Murphy was careful to keep on the far side of Woolsey. This had the effect of keeping Jacob, who was riding on Murphy’s shoulders, well away from Huang and Skoglund. All that did was confirm her opinions on their characters.

“Why in God’s name would you bring a child out here?” Skoglund wanted to know.

Murphy smirked. “Because God said we were on permanent assignment here. I doubt we’ll ever go back to Earth. My brother and I want to raise our sons and spend the rest of our lives with our family, not spend the rest of our lives separated from them like what happened to our Da.”

“God told you,” Huang snorted in disbelief.

Murphy shrugged. “Believe what you will, but things around here tend to have your beliefs turned ass over teakettle. I knew that my family had been doing the Lord’s work for a long time, but I’d never thought it’d been over 10,000 years.”

“You do the Lord’s work?” Woolsey asked. He’d thought that this man was one of the vigilante twins.

“Evbil man, dead man!” Jacob crowed.

Murphy laughed, while the three IOA reps stared in horror. “That’s right Jacob. Evil man, dead man.”

“How comes you know who’s ebil Da?” Jacob asked.

Murphy swung him down off of his shoulders and into his arms. “Jacob,” he said seriously. “First you have to be called. God is the one who shows his shepherds who is evil and who isn’t, and even then there are lesser forms of filth that the Lord still gives chances to. Do you remember the story of Jonah? God told him to go to a city of people who were doing evil and tell them not to do it anymore.”

“Uh huh and he’s was scared and gots swallodes up by a whale and the whale spits him out and he goes and tells eberbody and they’s sorry they were ebil and they’s no do it anymores.” Jacob was bouncing as he recited what he remembered of the story.

“That’s right, because God gives us lots of chances to be good. But sometimes people chose not to be good even when God gives them their chances. That’s when he sends his shepherds to protect the people who are good from those who choose evil. He shows the shepherds who doesn’t have chances anymore and who still does have chances.” Murphy looked over Woolsey’s head at Huang and Skoglund. “That’s something you might want to take into consideration.”

By now they had reached the gardens that surrounded the little tower. The garden beds were filled with Earth plants, both edible and not, and they made a very pleasant surroundings for the large number of picnic tables, single chairs, small tables, wooden kegs, and makeshift barbeque grills, all of which were in use by a large number of people. It looked like a party was in progress, complete with children running all over the place. Murphy put Jacob down. “Go and find your Granma, Jacob. I think those cookies she was making might be done by now.”

“YAHH!” Jacob ran off into the crowd.

“Well, it looks like they’re settling in nicely,” Elizabeth said.

“Aye,” Murphy said as his twin joined them.

“Grab a plate and some food,” Conner said. “There’s plenty for everyone. Half of Atlantis eats out here now that we’ve got the place fixed up a bit.” He was giving the IOA reps a long look, one that Elizabeth had learned meant that he was looking at the ‘marks’ that told him what a person had done in their life, and whether or not as Murphy had put it, God was still giving them a chance. “Interesting group they’ve sent us. Are you sure?” he suddenly asked Elizabeth.

“Yes,” she said firmly. She’d made him and his twin promise not to kill anyone the IOA sent, as long as certain conditions were met, mainly that whoever was sent was not actively doing something that made them a target. She hadn’t wanted to make that report to the IOA, at least not unless she could honestly say that the rep had brought his death upon himself. Now she was almost wishing that she hadn’t made the twins make that promise. Well, there was always the hope that Skoglund would do something stupid in front of a member of the McManus family.

“Fuck,” they muttered in perfect unison. Elizabeth turned to hide the smirk she couldn’t fully suppress and caught Huang making notes with a vindictive look on her face. It wasn’t a good sign. She’d have to find something to get her on their side.

Elizabeth was fortunate enough to find herself a seat near the twins and their family. She wouldn’t have missed Jacob’s greeting for anything in the galaxy. “Hi Mr. Wussey!” the little boy called across the table as he waved as hard as he could.

“Hello Jacob. How do you like Atlantis so far?” Woolsey asked. The two settled in to have a nice conversation, with Jacob mostly babbling about how nice the city was, how good it was to see his fathers and how he’d gotten to help take care of the animals when his crèche class had gone to visit the barn that had been set up for the Earth animals. Jacob was really excited about going to school for the first time.

“You just remember to listen to the teachers, Jacob. They all know different languages and if you ask nicely they’ll probably help you to say them right,” Conner told his son.

“Aye,” Murphy leaned across his ma, who slapped him gently in the head. “Doctor Zelenka’s teaching us Czech and Doctor Dex is teaching us Japanese.” He leaned back, but not without exchanging a worried look with his brother. Their ma should have hit him a lot harder than that, and she’d even refused a drink from the newest batch of alcohol. At least they knew now what was wrong with her.

It wasn’t the exhaustion that Doctor Beckett had warned them she was probably experiencing. Their mother was breaking down from grief. She might have spent the majority of her life away from her husband, but she’d always known where he was. That was all she had needed; the knowledge that her man was alive and well. Now their father was gone, and so was the anchor she had clung to for years.


	30. Chapter 30

Three days of unmitigated hell were how everyone would later describe the IOA inspection. The three representatives were everywhere, poking their noses into everything, regardless of whether or not it had anything to do with them or their organization. The worst part was the nit picking. Every single tiny thing had to be gone over at least ten times and everyone came away with the feeling that the IOA was just looking for a way to throw the book at the entire expedition. Whether they knew it or not, the reps were contributing to the growing animosity towards the IOA. So much so in fact, that many people turned a blind eye to the pranks that the twins, (and they all knew it had to be the twins as no one else had the guts or that twisted a sense of humor,) had played on Mr. Woolsey.

Most however is not everyone and Elizabeth was furious. On the third day she finally got a chance to corner the twins in the Jumper Bay where they were working with Radek and Romeo on the jumpers that Colonel Sheppard had traded a revolution for. They were just different enough from Atlantis’ jumpers that those who were responsible for the jumper projects were scarily enthusiastic over comparing everything from the programming to their differences in handling. It was all rather reminiscent of teenage boys drooling over the latest cool cars.

“CONNER! MURPHY! Just what the hell do you two think you’re doing! Are you trying to get us kicked out of Atlantis?!” Elizabeth stormed into the jumper that the four men were working on.

“You guys are in trouble now,” Romeo sing songed under his breath.

“Shut the fuck up Rome,” Murphy said.

“Doctor Weir, if we were trying to get all of us kicked off of Atlantis, then we’d be picking on all of them, not just Mr. Woolsey,” Conner explained. “And what we’re trying to do is cheer our ma up.”

“There’s few things Ma likes more than a good joke,” Murphy told her. “Besides, we’re not going anywhere near all out on the guy. We’ve passed up a lot of things we could have done simply because Ma wasn’t around to see it.”

“He’s not stupid. He knows what we’re doing,” was Conner’s opinion.

“Don’t push him too far. He won’t use his position for revenge, but that won’t stop him from being brutally honest about your conduct either,” Elizabeth fretted.

“Do not concern yourself so,” Radek told his wife. “I have already suggested to him that he fight fire with fire and get Mrs. McManus to help him prank them in return. It would be good for her to take her mind off of her mourning. Besides, it is not good for you or the baby to worry. Doctor Beckett said less stress, not more.”

“I’d feel a lot better if I knew if it was Huang or Skoglund that was setting all of our shepherds off,” she replied. The McManus family had been extremely vigilant about keeping the three IOA representatives far away from all of the children, as well as making certain that they were never left alone. She’d seen more than one reach for a weapon before aborting the movement. Something was definitely setting them off and she was beginning to wish that she hadn’t made the shepherds promise not to kill any of them without provocation.

Whatever answer the twins might have given her on the subject was overridden by an alarm blasting through Atlantis. Conner lunged for Elizabeth, picking her up and carrying her towards the command center at a dead run while Murphy and Radek followed and Romeo ran to prep the Jumper Bay. There was no telling what would be needed for the current emergency and Romeo prided himself on having his end of things ready to go at a moment’s notice.

In the command center Elizabeth simply called, “Chuck?” as Conner set her down, ignoring that Huang and Woolsey were standing by the conference room doors. Their shepherds were on the alert and keeping their charges out of the line of fire.

“Atlantis’ internal sensors are reporting an intruder in the chair room Doctor Weir. Colonel Sheppard and Doctor McKay have taken a squad of Marines to check it out. Mr. Skoglund and his guides were last seen in that area,” Chuck reported crisply.

Radek slid into a chair next to Chuck, diving into the sensor readings. “I think that the sensors are possibly reading Mr. Skoglund as the intruder,” Radek said, in surprise. “His guides would not leave him unless he were dead, but they are in the chair room and there is no trace of his signal. There is no signal interference and the readings are exceptionally clear.” He threw a knowing glance over his shoulder. “It is merely conjecture at this point, but I think that Mr. Skoglund may have done something to upset Atlantis. There have been many small malfunctions in his vicinity over the last three days, in spite of the fact that he has always been escorted by at least one McManus.” Unspoken was the knowledge that Skoglund was the one who had taken it upon himself to inspect the military presence in Atlantis, and that the head of the military was Atlantis’ favorite son.

“You’re sounding as though you think Atlantis is alive,” Woolsey said, flabbergasted and dismayed.

“Not alive, but it has become increasingly likely that Atlantis has some sort of AI in its database. We simply haven’t found the programing yet,” Radek explained as he busily typed on his laptop, looking for more information.

“No likely about it,” Conner winced and put his hand to his head. “She’s pissed as hell.”

“Indignant too,” Murphy agreed. “You don’t think he’s stupid enough to have sat in the chair?”

Conner snorted. “This is a man who thinks most Earth humans aren’t people, much less people who were born on different planets. If it’s so fucking stupid that not even Kavenaugh would touch it he’s sure to do it.” His eyes began to blaze when he realized what that meant for Atlantis.

“Fuck that shit,” Murphy snarled. “He’s deliberately endangering lives and that makes him a legal target!” He never had been a man to ignore a crying woman, even if it was a city instead of a flesh and blood one. He stormed off, his twin never leaving his side.

Elizabeth sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Are you just going to let them kill him?” Woolsey asked, horrified.

“If Mr. Skoglund is the intruder, and he has sat in the command chair, then yes he has endangered all of our lives Mr. Woolsey. It isn’t a simple matter of the chair not working if you don’t have the necessary gene sequence. There are security measures that assume that if someone without the ATA gene sits in that chair, then Atlantis is under attack and that the enemy has penetrated to the most secure level. I don’t know what Atlantis would do under those circumstances to those of us who don’t have the gene and I don’t want to know,” Elizabeth said flatly. “We’ve already encountered a situation where those without the gene were targeted for a horrible death while those with it were spared.”

“Legal target Mr. Woolsey,” Padric McManus said with satisfaction. “He knew that he wasn’t authorized and only a complete fool wouldn’t realize the sorts of security that has to be down there.”

“Whatever he thought he could use to get around the security system isn’t working,” Radek said. “All Atlantis personnel, AAAT crisis ten scenario. Relocate to crisis stations. If you cannot relocate, contact command center or Little Tripoli,” he called out over the communications systems.

“The children?” Woolsey wanted to know.

“The crèche is located in the second most secure area we have,” Elizabeth reassured him. “The only areas that have a higher security level are the chair room and the ZPM room, even the command center has a lower priority.”

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Atlantis was in enemy invasion lock down, but she had protocols that allowed her people to move about – but only her people. Having the ATA gene was more than simply necessary to open doors as Sheppard and McKay had found. They had been reduced to three Marines by Atlantis’ security. Sheppard tried not to waste time by arguing with Atlantis over the fact that he needed Marines to take care of the intruder whoever it was.

“Any luck?” Rodney gasped as they hurried down a hallway. He had gotten a lot better about running since coming to Atlantis, but he was never going to be a long distance runner, and to top it off the transporters weren’t working.

“NO,” Sheppard growled. “She says I don’t need any Marines.” The ATA positive Marines chose to ignore this as it really didn’t pay to argue with the city you were living in, especially one who was currently throwing a hissy fit over someone else.

“And ye don’t,” called someone from behind him. The small group slid to a stop and turned around to see a large group of men and women running up behind them. There wasn’t a single one that wasn’t armed to the teeth.

“Well, as long as we have some backup,” Sheppard shrugged and began running down the hall again. If Atlantis thought that almost the entire complement of mila poppaaem were worth more than a squad of Marines, he wasn’t going to argue.  
Murphy was the first one in the door, followed by Conner. There on the floor, near the command chair in the center were Aislin and Donal. That they were injured was in no doubt even if there hadn’t been blood everywhere, because they were unarmed. Their weapons were on the floor at the base of the command chair in several pieces.

“Get them out of here!” Sheppard shouted. The Marines were moving before the first word left his mouth. There was no doubt about exactly where they needed to take the two severely wounded McManuses. Half of the shepherds split off to help the Marines get them to the infirmary. The other half surrounded the command chair with Sheppard and McKay.  
What they found there turned their stomachs a little. It was indeed Skoglund who had turned on his guards and tried to take command of Atlantis through the chair. It was well known that the twins had stronger stomachs than most of the family, so it was to no one’s surprise when Conner bent over the chair and took a close look at the wires that Skoglund had been attempting to plug into the chair. The wires led from what was probably some sort of interface designed to fake the ATA connection that had been inserted into the gel pads in the arms of the chair back to Skoglund – and into what looked like a pacemaker of some type.

“That can’t be what it looks like,” Conner muttered, poking at Skoglund’s chest.

“That is completely disgusting,” McKay muttered as he plugged his laptop into the chair. “He can’t move because she’s erected a small forcefield over the chair itself, binding him to it.”

“No wonder I couldn’t touch his skin,” Conner said.

“Hey John, tell the Lady to let him go so we can kill him already,” Murphy said, deadly in his focus. His guns were no more than six inches away from Skoglund’s head.

“Can I at least get you to wait until he’s not in the chair? I don’t want to have to deal with the mess,” Sheppard said. His tone was joking, but anyone looking at his eyes could see that he was just as lethally angry as any of the others.

Conner aimed a mental question at Atlantis, who rather cheerfully replied with a mental picture of a location two doors over that was already set up for quick and efficient cleaning, (something that neither of the twins had ever bothered with before but then they’d never done a hit in their own home either) and released Skoglund, freeing his arms. Sheppard, Conner and Murphy grabbed his arms, while McKay reached up and gently removed the connections, watching his laptop to insure that he didn’t accidentally set off any traps. When Skoglund was free, both of the connections and the chair, the shepherds marched him off for execution while Sheppard sat down in the chair and let Atlantis’ programs, and the command center, know that the emergency was over.


	31. Chapter 31

Carson looked over the body of one Mr. Skoglund, IOA asshole and would be city conqueror and sighed. The men and women of Clan McManus were a strange lot. They’d taken Skoglund from the command chair, put him on his knees, blew his brains out, and after carefully collecting all of the pieces, had delivered the body to the morgue fully prepped for burial right down to the crossed arms and pennies on the eyes. Who had brought pennies to the Pegasus galaxy and why would they want to?!

At least they had realized that he would need to check to see if the man had been more modified than Carson had previously thought. The mechanical piece embedded in the man’s chest had mimicked a pacemaker right down to the internal design and since it had been listed as such in his medical files, Carson hadn’t thought anymore of it when it had shown up in the man’s physical. Whoever had come up with it was at least as much of a genius as Radek, if not quite in Rodney’s league, not that he’d ever feed his friend’s ego. It wasn’t good for him, although genuine complements were another story altogether. No, the design had been good; it was merely the lack of understanding of Atlantis that had caused the device to fail.

That was something that was central to a great many problems the residents of Atlantis had with the organizations back in the Milky Way galaxy, both on Earth and other wise. Atlantis was special, and it took special people to be able to handle life within her walls. She couldn’t be conquered, not in the traditional sense. Any who tried to force her to give up her secrets was doomed to failure. She had to be loved. It was only those who loved her, and loved being here in this galaxy helping to those who lived here to take on the Wraith, who thrived.

The first year had seen those who hadn’t loved it here die one by one, and even now Carson had been forced to send far too many people back to Earth simply because they couldn’t handle the stress of living here. Between the Wraith attacks, the questionable things that the Ancients had left lying around, the odd and often dangerous situations that the recon teams found themselves in and the idiocy of Earth’s organizations that just wanted to gut Atlantis, the stress levels of the people here were higher than any military base on Earth, including those that were under constant threat of attack, although that was beginning to change now that the little tower was up and running.

Father Nevan was more than happy to officiate at any ritual, religious or otherwise, and the chapel now had regular services for many different religions. Conner and Murphy had not only gotten their brewery running, but they had also turned the most easily accessed of the little tower’s gardens into a pub, rather like the ones back home, run by those who had married into their family. That right there had been a huge stress reliever, no matter what Elizabeth might think. Then there were the children, all of whom were dear little buggers, cuter than a dozen lambs and most of them as cheerful as Doctor Holbrook, a woman so cheerful that some wondered about her sanity, although Kate had given her a clean bill of health. Knowing that children belonging to their fellow expedition members were living in the city gave the expedition a sense of permanence, of roots and home. All of this had contributed to a significant reduction in stress just in the last few months.

Doctor Biro entered the operating room prepped for the autopsy along with Rodney. He’d offered to go over the mechanics of the device and any others that might be found. He had gotten used to bodies, at least much more than the other scientists, and stood a better chance at not bolting during the exploration of the body. It was time to begin. Carson began by activating the Ancient security system’s cameras. It would provide a live recording of their work.

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Richard Woolsey was exhausted. He’d read the reports on the nanite virus and the idea that Skoglund’s actions would release another such virus was horrifying. He was sitting in the conference room along with Huang, waiting for the command staff of Atlantis to finish their investigation. He’d been no help with that, although it hadn’t been for lack of effort on his part. Skoglund had hidden his intentions well from his fellow IOA representatives. Even Huang, easily the most hardline character he’d ever met, had been shocked and horrified by Skoglund’s actions, although more for her own safety than anyone else’s Woolsey expected.

Doctor Weir came into the room, leading Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne, Doctor Zelenka, Doctor McKay and Doctor Beckett as well as two of the guards that always seemed to follow her about. “Mr. Woolsey, Miss Huang, I have to ask you now, what is your agenda for your time here in Atlantis?” she asked as she sat down at the table. The others silently took their own seats, showing their support for their leader.

Huang readily replied. “I had been ordered to see to it that you were removed as leader of the Atlantis base. My government wishes for an increased presence here and more information for its own use, most specifically weapons. It was believed that you were deliberately hindering the spread of such information.”

“Somehow I’m not surprised,” Woolsey sniffed. “Doctor Weir, my own agenda was somewhat different. I was not ordered to arrange for your removal. I was sent to find out exactly why you were so insistent upon bringing civilian families to Atlantis, why you threatened to fire Doctors Zelenka and Dex, and to discover if your actions were caused by alien action or mental instability. I do not believe that either is the case, but I still do not understand your reasoning behind those threats.”

Doctor Weir sat calmly through their answers before addressing Woolsey’s concerns. “Mr. Woolsey, it was not I who threatened the removal of Doctor Zelenka and Doctor Dex. That was the end result of the IOA’s own policy, and I was merely pointing that out. You see, the IOA has forced the women of Atlantis to choose between their work here and murdering their own children.”

“WHAT?!” both Huang and Woolsey jerked upright in their seats, headless of the guards behind them.

Doctor Weir’s voice turned ice cold. “Any Earth woman on this base must have an abortion if she is to remain here, thus choosing her work over her child’s life. What I find particularly horrid about this policy is that she must do this while watching the women native to this galaxy run around this city with their children. There are children here whether the IOA wants them here or not. While Doctor Dex might have been able to stay here as Specialist Dex is a native of this galaxy, Radek and I do not have that option. We are both Earth natives and we would have been forced to chose between staying here and leaving Atlantis for Earth simply so that our child would be able to live.”

“We did not like those choices,” Radek said, picking up and holding his wife’s hand. “Elizabeth decided that hiring civilians to do the sort of repair work that was eating up our time would be the best way to solve several problems at once. So she hired people from a family known to have members that had high percentages of the ATA gene. Every member of the McManus family that has been hired has a gene percentage of over ninety percent. Thus we have more than tripled our numbers of gene carriers. We have cut down the time we scientists have been forced to spend on repairs in half, which means that we are now spending twice as much time in investigations. Those investigations go more quickly because we have more ATA positives to help initialize or operate the equipment,” Radek explained. “They also take part in Atlantis’ security, and because they already have their children here ours can be born here.”

“And Atlantis treats these people differently than the scientists you’ve been sent?” Woolsey asked him. “You said earlier that there were several small malfunctions around Skoglund even though he was under guard by at least one McManus. I take it the AI you think might be in the system normally doesn’t deliberately allow such malfunctions to happen around them.”

“Atlantis thinks of them as her people,” Doctor Beckett said. “Colonel Sheppard is her favorite hands down, but she’ll still do for a member of Clan McManus what she won’t do for anyone else.”

“And for that sort of malfunctions to occur near a McManus means one of two things, either there is something seriously wrong and Atlantis is trying to control those malfunctions, making them less serious, or she’s seriously ticked off and letting us know about it,” Rodney said. He crossed his arms and had his chin raised high, practically daring them to refute his conclusions.

“You are the expert on Atlantis’ repairs, Doctor McKay. We would not dispute your assessment of the situation,” Huang said, trying to calm Rodney down. Someone had obviously talked to her about pissing McKay off.

“Thank you for answering my questions Doctors,” Woolsey said, addressing McKay and Beckett before turning to Elizabeth.

“Doctor Weir, I don’t think that anyone back on Earth realized just to what extent that this city is returning to its former function or the sort of diplomacy it takes to survive in this sort of war zone,” Woolsey said, not trying to butter up any of the people he was facing, but simply doing the job he had been sent to do – report honestly on the conditions in Atlantis. “The documents that I have examined and the ones that our guards were kind enough to allow us to access after today’s emergency have shown an interdependence that is far more extensive than I was aware of from the reports I was given on Earth. From what I’ve both observed and read in your reports, Earth has been demanding a great deal more than the support it has been giving this settlement.”

“Mr. Woolsey,” Elizabeth leaned forward, trying to cut off Woolsey’s legendary honesty. She had to distract Huang from what Woolsey had said. “We are a military base. We are also a scientific research base. We are all doing our best to find the answers that Earth and our allies need, but we also have to deal with the reality of living in this galaxy. That requires us to make adjustments to the standard procedures that work well in the Milky Way. We may be the most advanced society out here, but that doesn’t mean much when reinforcements are nearly a month’s travel time away. We are mostly cut off here, and we realize that we could return to being cut off at any time. We can’t just march in here and say this is the way things are going to be done. We have to do our best to honor the ways of the people who have been fighting the Wraith for the last ten thousand years on their own.”

“Because if we don’t,” Sheppard leaned forward. “It’s a sure thing that we’ll be cutting our own throats when it comes to survival out here. We still can’t feed our own people, much less all of the refugees we get without the trade agreements we’ve set up. We’re on the tail end of the supply line out here. We’re more vulnerable to just plain old lack of support from home than we are the Wraith, the locals who think they’re the only ones who have the right to this city, the Wraith worshipers, and the sheer idiots that the IOA keeps sending us put together.” He turned to Huang. “And yet, they seem to think that we’re holding back information that would turn either of these two wars around. That’s not the case. We’ve gotten more translators with the people that Elizabeth hired than the IOA has seen fit to give us, but we still have to fight the database to find anything like what we might be looking for.”

“Aye, if you wanted to know how to treat radiation poisoning, well finding that sort of treatment and only that sort of treatment took two men seven months of searching and not doing much else,” Carson pointed out huffily. “The whole database is a strange mishmash that no one really can understand yet. Then when you add in how big the damn thing is, it’s no wonder we haven’t made as much progress as the ones back on Earth think we should have. It’s like trying to search the whole damned internet all at once!”

Elizabeth turned to Huang, knowing that Woolsey had gotten the point. “I’d be more than willing to have more of your country’s scientists and soldiers here, Miss Huang. I’m the one trying to hire more people. I don’t particularly care what country they come from. I simply need them to be able to handle living in Atlantis and to be more than simply competent in their fields.”

Huang seemed to brighten up at this, realizing that Elizabeth was giving her a way to complete the job that she was given by her government, even if it meant that she would have to back Elizabeth’s leadership. “I believe that Mr. Woolsey was correct in saying that many of those who are making the reports about Atlantis are simply not understanding the situation that you are facing Doctor Weir. My reports will certainly reflect that.”

“You should be careful whom you give those reports to Miss Huang,” Colonel Sheppard said. “Skoglund was working for the Trust. This isn’t the first time they’ve tried to sabotage Atlantis and I’m sure it won’t be the last.”


	32. Chapter 32

ART-1 was gearing up for another exploratory trip through the stargate. The Daedalus had left that morning, but not before Mr. Woolsey and Annabelle McManus had paid the twins back for their pranks. To the amusement of the rest of their team, the twins were still sulking. “Still can’t fucking believe she fucking did that,” Murphy muttered as he half heartedly threw clean uniform pants in his brother’s pack.

“Oh she’s quite proud of herself,” Conner said, annoyed. “And he was smirking fit to beat the devil himself when he left.”

“You do not think that such an arrangement would be a good thing?” Teyla asked, only somewhat innocently. She knew perfectly well that neither of them thought that their mother marrying Woolsey was a good idea, but she did wonder if they would chose for their mother not to marry again at all.

Conner and Murphy turned to glare at her. “The day our Ma gets involved,” Conner began.

“with that sort of stick up the ass,” came from Murphy.

“no good, paper pushing,” fumed Conner.

“tea totaling, bureaucrat,” growled Murphy.

“we’re taking up vows!” the twins snarled together.

The idea of the twins becoming celibate priests sent John and Rodney into fits of laughter. They’d watched Gretchen give her husbands a loving send off more than once. There was no way that either Conner or Murphy would voluntarily give her up. “I did not mean that Mr. Woolsey would be a good husband for your mother,” Teyla said patiently, ignoring the laughter from John and Rodney. “I was inquiring to see if you were opposed to your mother finding another husband at all.”

“Nah,” Conner said, appeased. “Ma’s been alone along time. Da was in prison for most of our lives. We’d be happy if she found someone.”

“There’s just no way in hell he’d be someone like Woolsey!” Murphy said firmly.

“She sure had you convinced,” Sheppard smirked.

“Aye, and nine years ago she called us up on our birthday and convinced us she was about to commit suicide just to torture us,” Murphy said, peeved. That one had really freaked him out and in odd moments still did a bit even years later.

“She’s damned good,” Conner admitted. He closed up his pack and Murphy closed his. “We’ll never out prank her. I’m just glad that she’s feeling well enough to pull something on us.”

“Giving her time off from watching that boy of your helped,” Ronon said. “I don’t think he stops until he falls asleep on his feet.” They left the locker room and headed for the gate.

The twins smirked as they looked over their shoulders. “He doesn’t,” they chorused, proud of their oldest.

 

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For once this wasn’t a primitive world. The locals lived in an Ancient outpost, and although they admitted that they did not understand much of what the Ancients had left behind, they weren’t as stupid about their explorations as the Genii had been. The chief scientist, a woman named Norina, turned out to be a lovely blue eyed blond, which in turn meant that John and Rodney were doing their best to out flirt each other again.

Rather than watch the display, Conner and Murphy wandered over to the observation platform window. There was no doubt that the outpost was of Ancient design and functional, but there was no welcoming presence here. Conner suspected that Rodney was right and this place was built during the war with the Wraith. The feel from the tech was very brisk and business like; and there was no AI present. All that could be seen out of the large window was more volcanic rock. “Wonder where the volcano was,” Conner said to his brother.

Murphy just shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. He had never been that interested in volcanoes if they weren’t in the process of erupting, that was the best part. His and Conner’s science teacher had never completely recovered from having the twins in his class. “I wonder if Kevin ever managed to undo what we did.” They snickered together. Their school had had a permanent volcano display set up in the science classroom, one that could be used to show just what happened when a volcano erupted. Murphy had managed to talk Conner into helping him make it a little less boring, not that it had taken much talking. Conner liked volcanoes, especially watching them explode.

They turned as they heard Norina introduce the chancellor to their team. There were the usual polite remarks, Chancellor Lycus thanking them for showing up and Colonel Sheppard doing his best to down play the fact that they were slightly hard to get in touch with. Conner and Murphy checked him out as they did everyone they came into contact with. It was almost a reflexive action at this point. The man was a bit paranoid and totally a politician, but they could work with that, or rather Teyla and Elizabeth could. All they would have to do is keep quiet and look menacing.

Chancellor Lycus offered a tour to Colonel Sheppard and his people while Norina and Rodney worked on the planet’s fluctuating shield system. Sheppard accepted and Conner followed that part of the team while Murphy stayed with Rodney. Norina led Rodney over to their shield’s control panels. Murphy fully expected that Rodney would be able to fix whatever was wrong with their shield generator within the hour. It wasn’t like the man didn’t do that sort of repair work on a regular basis back at Atlantis. Then there would be a party and they could go home.

Murphy wandered after them and began looking over the other panels of the control center. He expected to be bored out of his mind, at least until the party. He did not expect to see the danger and warning signs for an imminent volcanic eruption. “Cool,” he said. He began whistling Jimmy Buffet’s ‘Volcano’ as he started bringing up the planet’s geographical information.

Rodney interrupted his flirting and laptop setup to stare. “I need the outpost information, not the geography of the continent, and why are you whistling that song? You don’t usually like Caribbean music, you like that Molly group.”

Murphy grinned over at Rodney. “Cause this says that there’s a volcano about to go. If we’re lucky, maybe Conner and I can take a puddle jumper over and watch it go. I hope it’s gonna blast like St. Helens did rather than that one over in Hawaii.”

“Only you and your brother would want front row seats to an explosion,” Rodney muttered as he pushed Murphy aside. Just then there was a small earthquake, shaking the control center. Rodney yelped and ran for the nearest doorway. “That’s not good,” he said, when the shaking had subsided. “That was harmonic tremors.”

“We’ve had several such tremors in recent days,” Norina admitted. “I’m concerned that they may have something to do with our generator problems.”

“Well if your generator is powered by geothermal energy like you say it is, then yes, there is definitely a connection,” Rodney snarked. He couldn’t stand scientists who didn’t realize the obvious. “Find that volcano’s exact location,” he told Murphy. “It’s way too close for my comfort.” He reached up and tapped his radio. “Colonel, we’ve got a volcano eruption warning up here and we’re all going to die.”

 

“Whoa, Rodney, breathe and calm down,” Sheppard said, waving to the others to make sure they were listening to their radios. “Take ten seconds, and just breathe. Now, do you know where the volcano is and how much time do we have to evacuate any people that are nearby? Just because we caught some tremors doesn’t mean that we’re in danger. It could be on the other side of the continent or out in the ocean or something.”

Sheppard turned around, and herded his people and their tour guides, Chancellor Lycus and his two guards, back towards the elevators. No matter what the Chancellor wanted them to see this was far more important.

“I’ve got Murphy working on that. He reads casual Ancient much better than I do. I concentrated on technical Ancient,” Rodney said, looking over Murphy’s shoulder. “You could be right, no you’re wrong, wrong, wrong and we’re gonna die. Oh god, I’m never going to get that Nobel,” Rodney whimpered, even as he was pushing buttons frantically on the consoles around him.

“Rodney, calm down,” Sheppard said again, even as the Chancellor got huffy in his ear saying something about them manufacturing an emergency just to be able to take something from them. John wasn’t sure what because he wasn’t paying that much attention. Teyla and Conner would take care of the man and Ronon would deal with the guards if needed. “Remember, we have a functioning stargate. We can be back in Atlantis in just a few minutes.”

“Right, right, we have time to evacuate,” Rodney said, and calmed down slightly. He moved to shut down the shield.

“You can’t do that! The Wraith will be able to cull here if you do that!” Norina protested, trying to drag Rodney away from the console.

Rodney jerked around to look at her. “How long have you had this running?” he asked, suddenly very quiet and calm.

“When we saw the increased Wraith activity on the long range sensors last year, Chancellor Lycus ordered the shield raised continuously,” she said, suddenly uneasy at Rodney’s lightening change from panicked to calm, not to mention his glare.

“And you let a politician make a scientific decision? What kind of moron are you?” he roared. “Shields are only for emergencies! They use a huge amount of power! Why didn’t you realize something was wrong when the alarms started going off, and don’t tell me they didn’t!”

“I fixed the problem when the alarms went off!” she yelled right back.

“No you didn’t! You just turned them off!” he yelled back.

“Rodney! It’s not her fault she can’t read Ancient!” Murphy chastised him. “She was doing the best she could with the knowledge that she has. You know perfectly well that there are always big educational gaps in the most educated society out here, although I almost agree with you about trusting the Chancellor.”

“What’s wrong with trusting him to do his job?” Norina turned on Murphy.

“He’s paranoid,” Murphy said bluntly. “That means he’s not good at judging threats or how to react to them.”

“Ah, so that would be why he’s yelling about us trying to steal something,” John said as he walked up to them. Ronon was carrying a gagged Chancellor and Conner was looking rather pleased with himself. Teyla simply looked amused. There was no sign of the two guards. “I have no clue as to what he’s raving about Norina, but we don’t have time to talk about it. Rodney, what are we looking at?”

Rodney yelled over his shoulder. “Get everyone off this planet now Sheppard! I think I’ve managed to slow it down a little, but there’s no stopping it!”

“Rodney, I need a sitrep!” John snapped. He realized this was a true emergency from Rodney’s reactions, but he needed to know what he was dealing with.

Rodney turned around, his arms waving. “Colonel, this isn’t going to be like St. Helens or that volcano in Hawaii that just bubbles up. This is a super volcano like Yellowstone and we’re standing right above the main magma chamber. Plus, this planet only has one continent. When this volcano goes, it’s taking everything with it.

“Before you join me in cursing out the Ancients, it’s not totally their fault this time. Super volcanoes can go thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years between eruptions. A lot of this,” he waved at the consoles around him, “is dedicated to monitoring and dealing with it. They tapped into it to use the geothermal energy to build something. This is a manufacturing facility. What they were building, I haven’t got a clue at the moment. I haven’t had a chance to take a look.”

“NO! NO! Don’t tell them Norina! It’s all a trick! Remember what Commander Kolya told us!” Lycus had managed to remove his gag when no one was looking.

“The mila poppaaem have placed Acastus Kolya at the top of their list of evil men,” Teyla said flatly. “He is insane and he glories in bringing pain to others.” She glared at Lycus as Ronon restuffed the gag in his mouth.

“I know that he enjoys the pain of others,” Norina said softly. “I did not believe him then, nor do I now. I was the one who persuaded Chancellor Lycus that we had no choice but to appeal to the Lantians for help.”

Rodney snorted. “Well it was his paranoia about the Wraith that accelerated this problem in the first place. Using the shield constantly caused too large of a power drain from the machines keeping the volcano stable. What’s he so worked up about anyway? It can’t be drones or he wouldn’t be worried about the Wraith and he wouldn’t know what to do with a ZPM if an Ancient descended and spoon fed him the instructions.” The last part was loaded with scorn.

“It’s a ship,” Norina replied.


	33. Chapter 33

Jacob McManus loved school. First thing in the morning he and the other kids got to help with the animals in the barn. It was a very big place, but only a very few animals were in it, so it was almost like having pets. Then they all worked on numbers and languages, learning the alphabets, how to read them, how to say them, and why something worked in one language but not in another. It was weird how Ancient didn’t have swearing like the languages the grownups in his family spoke or Athosian didn’t have words for give up.

The Genii kids in his class were all sick and had to take medicines that Doctor Beckett and Doctor Holbrook gave them. It made Jacob sad that his new friends didn’t feel good, but he was glad that the doctors were working to make them better. It was also nice that the doctors made the teachers take them outside for their classes when it wasn’t raining. It made recess time much more fun cause they could swim or play on the swing sets, or dig in the dirt of the gardens. The only bad thing about school was that there were too many girls. Girls didn’t like to play neat games like wrestling in mud or flying puddlejumper toys or water fights or anything else fun.

Jacob looked across the square at the group of girls that were playing house with different kinds of baby dolls by the fountain. He made a face. Babies were alright, but only his brothers. Baby dolls were just yucky. Bored, he looked around but the teachers were all busy and the rest of the boys were playing with bantos rods, something that his Das both said he was too young to play with yet. He sighed. He’d just have to go and find something to do on his own. No one noticed as Jacob wandered off.

 

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“On it!” the twins called out, going to the control consoles over by the large observation windows and pulling up files. A few tense moments later, Conner called out. “Holy Fucking Shit! This is where they built the ships they used to fight the Wraith.”

“The one still in dry dock here is the Hippaforalkus. It’s Aurora class and from what I can tell, needed a lot of minor repairs when the Ancients abandoned this place, but was mostly space worthy,” Murphy said on the heels of his brother. “We need Doctor Zelenka or Rodney to figure out how bad the damage is and if it’s salvageable now.”

“Norina, call Lycus’ assistant or aid or whatever as well as yours. We need to evacuate everyone off this planet now,” Sheppard said. He turned to Rodney. “How long do you think we can hold off the explosion if we get your team in here to monitor the equipment?”

Rodney looked back at the control console, rapidly doing equations in his head. “We can hold it off, three maybe four hours if I can get Johnson, Woolridge, Simpson and two or three others. Radek will know who to send. I’ll need him and an engineering team to see if we can salvage the ship in time.”

Sheppard nodded and turned back to Norina, still ignoring Lycus. “Ok, you need to evacuate all of your people, children and elders first. They are the highest priority. The rest of your people are second. Tell them to take only what they can carry. Seeds, food plants, and any Ancient tech, parts or crystals are what they should bring for trade items. All of those are highly valued on Atlantis and your people will be able to trade for whatever they need if you or Elizabeth decide that your people won’t be settling in Atlantis.”

“You would make us Lantians?” Noria asked in wonder.

“Yours wouldn’t be the first group we’ve adopted. Your people are the first we’ve come across that actually knows at least a little of what they’re doing when it comes to Ancient tech. We can always use more people like that, but as I said you and our leader, Elizabeth Weir will have to work that out. Right now, let’s just get your people to safety.” Sheppard turned to Ronon and Teyla. “The two of you get down to the gate and let Elizabeth know what’s happening. Send Lycus through and he can start negotiations for his people. Then help with the evacuation. Conner, I’ll need you to help the engineers and Murphy, you help the group up here and download as much of the database here that you can.” As soon as they got their orders, everyone turned to the job of rescuing the Taranian people.

As Murphy had spent most of his time digging through the database in Atlantis, he was able to quickly sort through the Taranian database. In fact, it had only taken him a few moments comparing the two to realize just why the Atlantis database’s organization had seemed familiar, but hovered just out of his conscious reach. Earth databases were set up in family groups, where one subject led to another that was related to the first. The progression from one subject to the next was generally a logical one.

These Ancient databases weren’t logical, which was what had been driving the scientists and everyone else nuts for years now. They were set up in families, but these subjects were linked together by emotion and instinct – art. Here, it was the art of war. It was an art that Murphy would deny understanding to his dying day. Even to his brother he’d said that their work was simple – find the evil man doing his evil deeds, and kill him – nothing more and nothing less. Conner was the one with the delusions of artistry.

“Are you sure we can trust them?” Murphy didn’t turn or let the man who was whispering to Noria know that he could hear them.

“It’s not a matter of trusting them as much as it is knowing that we can’t trust Commander Kolya. If he says that we can’t trust them, then we probably can. You know as well as I do that we don’t know as much as we need to about the technology the Ancestors used,” Noria explained.

Just then the scientists from Atlantis came barreling into the room. Rodney was in his element, ordering around his minions at the top of his lungs. One of them brought a large box of flash drives over to Murphy. They wouldn’t be able to save even a tenth of the data base, but if they didn’t copy the stuff that Murphy knew was duplicated, they might be able to save the more important parts. “Murphy, you going to be able to help us?” Simpson asked.

“Sure, just give me a yell if ya need me ta translate something,” Murphy told her. He glanced up to see Rodney and Radek running after Noria and Sheppard. The man who had questioned Noria, a Makixal by name, hovered in the background as the group took over manning the control consoles that would hopefully buy them enough time to evacuate everyone and get the ship off the planet.

They needed that ship. The people were, as always, more important than any technology, but they had no ships of their own. The Daedalus belonged to the SGC and Earth. They had no control over it. A ship of their own, one that they could send to Earth, use to defend themselves against the Wraith or as a blueprint to make more was worth a lot, although they would have to change its name. The name the Ancients had given it was just awful.

Murphy had no idea what Elizabeth would try to trade for it, but he knew that a one way ticket to the Milky Way for their entire population if that was what they wanted wouldn’t be out of the question. They had traded that with individuals in the past, usually for something extreme. Murphy did know that Elizabeth was prepared to offer that up in exchange to anyone who was willing to give them a ZPM for instance.

“How big is your population?” Murphy threw the question over his shoulder. He could see the Taranian people beginning to line up on the walk way up to the gate from his position by the observation window. Makixal named a number, and said that there were also several families that lived on the outskirts of the settlement farming what little arable land there was. “Anyone want to run the numbers on that?” Murphy asked. Brewing he was ok at, languages he was good at and assassination he was great at, but Murphy really wasn’t all that good at the sort of advanced word problems that would help him to figure out how soon the locals would all be evacuated.

“They’ll all be out of here in just under three hours,” one of the scientists offered.

Murphy nodded and hit his headset. “Hey Conn, how ya doing down there?”

Conner looked around at the sheer chaos that the bridge of the Ancient ship had become. “We’re up to our balls in work here. Rodney’s having a great time. He and Radek think that we’ll be able to launch this thing in a little over three hours. We’ve got to think up a better name,” he griped.

“How about Enterprise?” Murphy asked, with a laugh.

“Who’d you pick for Spock?” he asked. It was one of the many pointless discussions he’d had over the years with his brother, but they passed the time.

“Oh Rodney of course,” Murphy insisted. “He’s got the brains.”

“Nah,” Conner refuted. “He’s totally Scotty - an engineer, able to come up with brilliant solutions on the fly and can’t ya just hear him yelling about the engines can’t take much more of this?” As Rodney was currently waving his hands about his head and yelling about engine tolerances he felt he was completely right about his pick.

“Hmm, yeah and he’s right about Sheppard being Kirk,” Murphy said. “How about Teyla? She doesn’t have the education, but she’s sure smart enough and she’s got that serenity thing going for her.”

“Well, other than her being the wrong sex you’d be right,” Conner shrugged. He was busy sending the damage and repair reports to the other’s laptops. “Nothing shakes her for long, but I think she’d make a better Uhura. That was one kick ass woman. Beckett’s McCoy of course.”

“Aye, goes without saying,” Murphy agreed. “How ‘bout Ronon? He ain’t no red shirt for all he’s a bruiser.”

“Sulu,” Conner said after a moment. “He’s real versatile that one. Plus he loves weapons as much as Sulu did, plus there’s that romantic thing the big guy has going. Remember that episode when Sulu was running around with a sword and had Uhura protesting that she wasn’t a damsel in distress?”

“Yeah, I remember her putting it a bit better than that though,” Murphy laughed and Conner did as well.

What Conner remembered most about that episode was how their ma had pointed at the television and told them that it was a damned shame the woman wasn’t a real one because that was the sort of woman that was worthy of becoming a McManus. That was another reason to compare Teyla to her. Teyla was not only a complete lady, she was also able to kick ass and take names and she was going to have his brother’s twin girls in two more months. The twins continued their idle bickering over which of their friends were closest to which television characters. It was a good way to relieve the stress of being separated as well as allowing them to remain in contact with each other.


	34. Chapter 34

Dealing with Chancellor Lycon was rather like trying to pound a nail through a brick wall with nothing but a fist, Elizabeth decided. Of course it hadn’t helped that Ronon had brought him to Atlantis slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and after dumping the man into one of the chairs in Elizabeth’s office, bluntly told her that Rodney had said the man’s planet was going to blow up so expect more refugees. She knew that there was more to the man than the barbarian he pretended to be, why he didn’t bother with diplomatic niceties when they were needed she had no idea.

Elizabeth walked out of her office and over to the gate room balcony. Jenkins was on duty at the moment and watching over the latest group of refugees streaming into Atlantis. The line of people stopped abruptly. Elizabeth was alerted to the fact that something was wrong simply because Jenkins began scanning the controls in front of her, obviously looking for something going wrong on their end. She waddled over to Jenkins. Well, she wasn’t really waddling. She was only five months along, but Elizabeth was already feeling like a blimp, especially today. That was when she saw molten lava begin to flow through the gate.

“SHIELD!” she yelled, and Jenkins slammed her hand down on the controls. The stargate’s shield sprang into being, cutting off the flow and then the wormhole shut down. They were left with a cooling spill of molten rock running down the platform and steps that that their gate stood on, although thankfully the gate itself did not seem to be compromised. “Chancellor, are all of your people safe?” she asked. She didn’t want to think about the fact that Radek was still over there. She repeated the facts that she knew to herself. Even if the planet had exploded, he hadn’t been planning to come back by ‘gate. He and Rodney were working on fixing another Aurora class ship and most of the repairs had already been done. Her husband would be just fine. Nevertheless, she pressed her hand against her child and said a prayer that its father would be there to see it born.

“No,” he whispered. He would have shot an angry accusation at her, but the devastated look on her face and the motion towards her belly was something even he could understand. Her mate was on his planet and she was frightened that he would not survive.

Elizabeth refused to panic. “Corporal Jenkins, contact the Daedalus. She should still be within communications range. Send Colonel Caldwell the coordinates to Taranis and ask him to check and see if he can help with the evacuations over there. Private!” she called. It didn’t matter that she didn’t have a name right now. There was always at least one private on duty in the gate room.

“Yes Ma’am!” came from two different directions, one from Jenkins and one from the floor.

“Get that lava cooled down and scraped up. If you don’t cool it too quickly it should stay pliable if I remember my geology lessons correctly,” Elizabeth ordered. The Marines down on the floor nodded. They knew what to do with the refugees and now they had a faint idea of what to do with the mess besides get a geologist down to look at it.

“Ma’am, I’m afraid we have another problem.” It was Aileen, one of her bodyguards for the day. “Young Jacob has wandered off from his class and it looks like Atlantis likes him as much as she likes the Colonel. She’s hiding him, or rather she’s telling us that he’s fine and with the cat rather than giving us a location for him.”

“The cat has a tracking collar right?” Elizabeth asked, exasperated that she needed to point out the obvious.

“It’s not registering either,” Atwell, the science tech on sensor duty admitted. “From what I can tell, Atlantis stopped paying attention to her about the same time that Jacob McManus went missing.”

“Send more people out to help the search parties,” Elizabeth ordered. “Give them their last known location.”

“Ma’am! I’ve reached Colonel Caldwell and he’s ordered the Daedalus on course for Taranis.” Jenkins got up and walked over to Elizabeth. “They’ve tracked a contact for the last three hours and passed the information to us. It’s a Wraith hive ship and it’s headed our way. If it stays on course, it’ll be here in three weeks.”

“Just one?” Elizabeth asked, diverted with yet another problem.

“So far,” Jenkins said, reminding her that there was no telling if that would remain the case.

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Jacob McManus loved animals of all shapes and sizes. So when he found a cat on his exploration, he was thrilled. He decided that he just had to pet the cat as he hadn’t seen one in forever. Unfortunately Her Highness didn’t agree with him. She managed to avoid Jacob’s attempts at stroking her fur without once looking as though she was actually avoiding the boy. Soon she was leading him on a merry chase, always keeping just out of his reach; not that Her Highness would lower herself to actually run from the boy.

They stayed within the restricted zone, the one where teams of explorers had made certain that it was at least safe enough to walk through, even if they hadn’t done a closer inspection. They went through one dead garden after another before they entered the base of one of the few buildings that wasn’t a tower. The inside of the building was typical of Atlantis architecture all flowing lines and large windows that allowed the maximum amount of light in and the best possible views out. There was a small control station directly across from the door that was enclosed in clear crystal on three sides. It over looked a vast space filled with what appeared to be Ancient stasis chambers. Her Highness leaped up to the top of the control console and made herself comfortable in the sunbeam warming its surface.

Jacob, following faithfully, was stymied for a moment when he saw this because he couldn’t figure out a way to reach her. Atlantis, reacting to Jacob’s frustration, raised two steps out of the floor in front of the console that would allow him to reach the cat. Grinning broadly, Jacob jumped up the steps and, surprisingly gently for his age, finally managed to pet the cat. As he leaned against the console it lit up with a rainbow of colors. Curious he poked at a few of them, wondering what they did. Down below, various machines began coming on line. Several of the lights in front of Jacob began flashing in a pattern. Delighted Jacob poked at these, only to discover that if he did not copy the pattern of blinks, the lights would turn off. With a determined scowl on his little face Jacob set out to copy each and every pattern.

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“HOLY SHIT!” Murphy yelled in surprise as he watched the ground under the ‘gate open up and lava swallow the ‘gate whole as it sank into the molten rock. “Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Did you see that?!””

“No time for that now!” Simpson snapped. “Make sure that Teyla and Ronon get everyone they can into the ‘jumpers. Ferguson, Winslow, get to the jumpers and get them off this planet the second you have a full load. Murphy, let everyone know when the ‘jumpers are gone.” She turned her attention from the people in the room with her to her boss down in the dry dock. “Doctor McKay! The ‘gate is gone and we can’t hold off the eruption for more than another fifteen minutes. The ‘jumpers are being loaded and everyone who can’t fit is headed your way.”

Rodney didn’t even pause his rewiring efforts as he yelled back. “Simpson get your people out now! Don’t wait! Radek, tell me you’ve got the doors open!”

Although they hadn’t gotten the majority of the people off of the planet, the Lantians didn’t bother worrying about how they were going to save the rest. The worst of the injured, and thanks to the advanced warnings they’d received most of the civilians had avoided severe injuries, were either already in Atlantis or were being loaded into the jumpers. The rest would leave the planet with the new ship, if Radek and his team could get the bay doors open.

Norina was watching as Rodney’s hands flew over the connections between crystals and conduits. The man did not seem to even stop to decide anything before he was ripping out some of the repairs that her people had done while ignoring others. If she had not seen how much better the machines responded after he had made one such repair she would have ripped him away from the consoles, walls and the engine. As it was she watched in awe and tried to commit his actions to memory.

This was a real man. Not only did Rodney have knowledge that was far beyond hers, he was far braver than any man she had ever met. He was terrified by the volcano, but he had not tried to leave. Most men she had been courted by would have either been fighting for a way to leave ahead of the refugees and wounded or would have been far too ignorant to realize the danger. Yes, he was arrogant, but he was at least as clever as he boasted that he was and he was far braver than he claimed. If they lived through this, she would have to see if he would be agreeable to giving her a child and an education.

“Hanger doors are now operational!” Radek called as he began gathering up his tools. He hurried his team back to the ship. Coming from the opposite side he could see Teyla herding people into the ship. He knew that Ronon would be at the back of the group, making certain that there were no stragglers, and thus no losses that could be prevented. “How are the engines?” he asked as he pushed past the stream of frightened people. He did his best not to be rude or hurt anyone, but he was needed if they were going to get off this planet.

“Engines are up and running,” Rodney said. “I’ve got the sensors. I need you on the remotes.” The remotes were the ship’s communications system for each bank of crystals. Without them, the different parts of the ship’s technological systems could not talk to each other. Fortunately Radek knew that there was only the main remote left to repair. They should be up and running in a matter of moments. He broke into a run as soon as he cleared the crowd.

“Ronon!” Rodney yelled. “Get everyone off the surface! The sensors show that the volcano is venting toxic gasses into the atmosphere! Throw them through the damned doors if they won’t go!”

“On it McKay!” Ronon called. He didn’t bother to tell the man that he’d already brought the last group down into the tunnels. Truthfully, they had been acting difficult but it hadn’t been anything that he couldn’t handle. One shot from his blaster had showed the unarmed farmers that he had meant business. They would be delivered to the ship alive, even if they were scared out of what little wits they had in just a minute.

“Simpson!” Rodney called.

“Already on board, we have five minutes,” she reported as she ran through the ship’s corridors, watching the hand tablet she held. It was connected to the sensors in the control room. She would be able to tell when the volcano finally blew. Her team had already scattered to their preappointed stations. Hers was in the ship’s equivalent of Atlantis’ chair room. Sheppard was already there in the main control chair, holographic HUDs floating in the air around him.

“We’re in!” Ronon yelled.

Murphy reached his twin’s side, right up in front where they could see everything. A glance showed him that they were once more in synch. They were going to ride the volcano’s eruption as they launched, at least they thought it was going to be that close. “Rodney?” Sheppard called.

“Hit it!” Rodney yelled back as he closed the last connection. Everyone grabbed a handhold as the engines powered up and the ship rose out of its berth. Radek opened the launch bay doors, and as Sheppard slipped the ship past them, the windows showed that the eruption was finally commencing, the lava beginning to crawl up and over the area. The ship scraped its hull a bit on the way out, but Sheppard knew that they didn’t have time to wait. Just as they cleared the doors, the lava began spilling into the dry dock.


	35. Chapter 35

The Daedalus arrived at Taranis to find two of Atlantis’ puddlejumpers in orbit. Colonel Caldwell ordered them retrieved and sat in his bridge chair wondering if they were the only people he was going to find. Doctor Weir’s people had been blunt. Taranis was going to be destroyed by a super volcano according to Doctor McKay, and no one was willing to bet against the man.

Waiting on the bridge for the jumpers to dock, Caldwell carefully examined what he could see of Taranis on the view screen, looking for the super volcano Doctor McKay had said was about to erupt. He couldn’t see anything that he recognized as a volcano, but then the geologist had said something about Yellowstone being one, so he probably wouldn’t know what he was looking for in the first place. At least that was what he thought until the eruption started.

It was probably the most fantastic sight that Steven Caldwell had ever seen. The Aurora class battleship emerging from the center of the volcanic eruption was surrounded with lava, like seeing the center of a flower as it opened. The sight was enough to leave anyone breathless, and that was without considering the fact that there were people on board that ship that he knew and liked. He nodded at his communications officer who opened a frequency at the silent order. He didn’t get a chance to say anything because the moment the channel was open the bridge crew was blessed with the dulcet tones of Doctor Rodney McKay yelling at the top of his lungs some kind of technobabble about how something was going to blow up if some moron didn’t get his head out of his ass and do what McKay told him.

“This is the Daedalus,” Caldwell said through a grin he was trying to stifle. “It’s good to hear you’ve survived, Doctor. Do you happen to have any passengers?” That was now the important question; just how many others, both of ART1 and the locals, had made it. He could already see the spreading ash cloud from the eruption. Doctor McKay had been right in his prediction once again. From the amount of ash being sent into the sky, the entire planet would be shrouded in days. It was an extinction level event.

“We’re all alive and accounted for Colonel,” Sheppard said, while in the background McKay was now screaming at some unfortunate named Anderson. “We’ve just lost the shields and the hyperdrive wasn’t repairable in the time we had. Rodney says it will take at least a week to get that back on line. The sublight engines are working, so we’ve got life support, communications and we’re not dead in the water but that’s about all we’ve got going for us right now.”

“I’m willing to shuttle you and your passengers back to Atlantis, but if my figures are correct then it will take at least four trips.” Unspoken was the knowledge that if they all left it would mean abandoning the ship. Caldwell’s help could only go so far no matter his personal feelings on the subject. There was also the fact that certain people would be demanding that the ship be brought back to Earth, no matter what.

“Well, I’m sure that the Tarsanians would want us to finish up the repairs on their ship. I’m not sure what Elizabeth and Chancellor Lycon have worked out, but abandoning, ah... her, shouldn’t be on anyone’s list. We’ll take you up on the offer of a ride, but we’ll leave enough people here to get the hyperdrive up and running,” Sheppard said. “If you could bring Major Lorne back, I’d appreciate it. Slow and steady aren’t exactly the twin’s middle names and I’d like a chance to get out of this chair sooner or later.”

“Hey!” Caldwell could hear in the background. “Slow’s for the old.” That would be Murphy, he knew. “And steady’s only good if you’re talking about a man’s aim.” And there was Conner, right behind his brother. Now if only the last two members of ART1 would speak up he would feel much better.

“Not a problem Sheppard. I’ll let Novak coordinate with your people on the evacuation.”

 

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“JACOB NOAH MCMANUS! Just what do you think you are doing!” Gretchen McManus yelled as she stormed into the room where Jacob and Her Highness were. They had found the boy because of the power usage being pulled into the building from something that child was doing. Right behind Gretchen was Major Lorne and several of the minor engineers, the ones that had been left behind in Atlantis.

“Ma! I finds kitty and I plays game with city lady!” Jacob told his mother, delighted to share his day with her.  
“You are playing a game with Atlantis?” she asked puzzled, surprised out of her ire.

“Uh huh,” he agreed. He turned back and showed her the lights on the console. They lit up in a pattern and Jacob carefully repeated it. “See?”

Gretchen sighed. Her little one was far too much like his fathers, Murphy in particular. “Why don’t you let the scientists play with Atlantis now?” she said as she pulled her son away from the console. “You should not wander away from the teachers.” It was not the first lecture she’d given her son, nor would it be the last. He was a good boy though, and it usually only took once for him to understand what he’d done wrong, so he seldom repeated his mistakes. The trouble was that he was far too smart for his own good and always found new ways to get into trouble.

Lorne did his best to hold in the snickers until after the lecturing Gretchen had removed her son from the room. “So what game was he playing with Atlantis?” he asked the scientists. He frowned at the slack jaws on the scientists faces. “HEY!” he poked the nearest one. “What’s going on?” If there was something really wrong he had to know it and fast.

“We thought that this was one of the stasis chamber rooms for the city inhabitants. A sort of emergency hibernation spot for people who couldn’t help with emergencies,” the scientist tried to explain. “But these chambers are full of organic and chemical compounds that easily degrade – and they’re used to make drones.”

“DRONES!” Lorne perked up at that information. Everyone had known that somewhere there had to be a facility for the creation of the Ancient’s weapons. The more mundane the weapon, the more common the facility to create them had to have been. They hadn’t found any before now though.

Most of the small group of scientists nodded. “We need a translator down here right away, but if Atlantis and the database cooperate, we just might be able to start production of more drones within days.”

 

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A very exhausted group heaved a huge sigh as Colonel Sheppard lightly landed the still unnamed ship on one of Atlantis’ piers. There was still work to be done, but now at least, they could take their time with it – if they were allowed to that is. Sheppard ordered all Lantians off of the ship, and dragged Rodney away from the repairs that he was making. It wasn’t a vital repair, although it was important, and it was more important that the Council got the information on Taranis that it needed. Knowing Elizabeth, she would want Lycus to see what had happened and John wasn’t looking forward to it.

As he had suspected Elizabeth and her guards were waiting for them as soon as they left the ship. “Do you want the good news, or the bad news?” she asked John quietly as they headed for the main conference room.

“You know me Elizabeth,” he said as he watched the twins reunite with their family further on down the pier. “Bad news first.”

“We’re tracking an inbound Hive ship. It’ll be here in one week, that’s the bad news.” John stopped and shot her a look full of horror. She gave him a grim smile. “The good news is that little Jacob McManus proved just how much he belongs in that crazy family by finding the building that houses the drone manufacturing facility.”

“Trust a McManus to find all of the really neat weapons,” John agreed.

“Now that Rodney and Radek are back it shouldn’t take more than a few hours to get the facility back on line. As far as the scientists that they left here could figure out there aren’t that many repairs needed. From what I understand it’s mostly replacing the tubes that carry the organic and chemical materials from the stasis pods where they’re stored to the machines where they’re used, but they’re not about to take the chance that they’re wrong, so we’ve waited for Rodney.”

“Good idea,” John said with a slight shudder. He knew he wasn’t the only one who had vivid memories of those times the scientists had gone ahead without Rodney’s permission. They had reached the conference room now and with any luck, he would be able to sit down and crash while Rodney played the video from the ship’s sensors.

A very grim faced set of Councils, both from Atlantis and Taranis, watched the view screen as the last moments of Taranis played across its surface. “As I said before, an extinction level event,” Rodney rasped. He and his engineering teams, (those whom he had allowed to stay) had done an extraordinary job with the Ancient ship. In just under a week they had repaired the hyperdrive AND the shields resulting in a functional, if not completely repaired, ship. He was exhausted and it showed in every movement. “Now as the idiocy of the paranoid has destroyed the planet as a viable biosphere, you people have to decide just where you’re going to live now. Just so you know, it won’t be here.” With that he crashed back into his chair.

“You would turn us away?” Norina asked sadly. With everything she had seen, she had truly begun to want to become Lantian, perhaps even marrying one of the Earth born, perhaps even Rodney himself, although she wasn’t certain they would make a good match.

“You I have no problem with,” Rodney pointed at her. “But there is no way HE is welcome in MY city.” He pointed directly at Chancellor Lycus. “We have enough trouble as it is. We don’t need to invite stupidity to take up residency. I’d tell you to trade your ship for a one way trip to the Milky Way for everyone but there are a few of you who could, possibly, eventually make it to Simpson’s level of competence if you just got the education you need.”

Sheppard, who was just as exhausted as his teammate, leaned over and whispered to Norina while Elizabeth tried to smooth over the sharp edges that Rodney had raised. “You don’t know it yet, but that is a huge compliment in McKay talk. He often says that Radek is the only one around here with half a brain and the rest of his people are morons and idiots, in spite of the fact that they are some of the smartest people our home world ever produced. There’s only one person I’ve ever heard him not talk down about as far as intelligence goes and that’s his rival Samantha Carter. He keeps thinking that one of these days he’s going to convince her to have his kids. It is the fact that Lycon almost got all of your people killed that really has Rodney furious with him.”

“I can understand that,” she said, even as her personal plans died with the knowledge. “But what did he mean by a one way trip to the Milky Way? I’ve never heard of such a place.” Norina was more than just a little confused. Rodney knew just how much a ship of the Ancients was worth to her people. What trip could possibly be worth that much?

“We call this galaxy Pegasus,” John told her pointing at the floor under his feet. “The Milky Way galaxy is where our home world is. Don’t get me wrong, it has its share of dangers, for instance there is a group of parasitic snakes that rule over a good portion of it and demand that their subjects worship them as gods even as they use their bodies for hosts.”

“But there are no Wraith there,” Norina realized. That and that alone would be more than worth trading her ship for. “Doctor Weir, I believe that Doctor McKay’s suggestion would be in my people’s best interest. However, if it is possible, I know that there are a few who would like to stay here in Atlantis, mostly those who have put their entire lives into repairing our ship.”

“Norina!” Lycus hissed in her ear.

“Shut up you damned fool! They just offered to send every last one of our people to a place where there are no Wraith! We’d never have to worry about a culling again!” she whispered back.

“I’m sure that my people would have no objection to that,” Elizabeth offered.

“Fine, it’s settled then.” Chancellor Lycus got up and left the room.


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who have noticed that the chapters suddenly increased by two and yet the last chapter is the same one that you read the last time you looked at it - I am sorry to say that I had accidentally skipped two chapters. Those have now been added back in and placed in their proper positions as chapters 29 and 31. The story makes sense without these chapters, which is why I accidentally forgot to add them at the proper time, but they do have important tidbits of information. Again, my apologies - Dragonsteamfan

The hive ship that was spotted by the Daedalus had finally reached the Lantia system, and Atlantis was waiting. All of the military personnel were at their posts and the civilians, those who were not capable of fighting and those assigned to protect them, were in the crèche. It wasn't just the Genii patients and the Atlantis children either. Teyla and Halling had rounded up every Athosian, from the eldest to the youngest babe in arms and every single person that had taken refuge among the Lantians, and made certain that they were all in the safest place they could be. Ronon and Doctor Beckett had even moved the Ancient baby machines to the more protected crèche area.

Rodney and his scientists were also at their posts, ready to make repairs or adjustments or anything else should it be needed in the fight to come. After two years in Atlantis, they were well aware of the dangers that a hive ship in orbit brought, not the least of which was more hive ships. The sensor range of a hive ship had been calculated long ago, so they knew exactly when the approaching hive would be able to begin scanning Lantia for Atlantis.

They couldn't move the city, or sink it, or even shield it the way they had before. They still only had a single ZPM, and those options took up too much of its energy as it wasn't even a third of the way charged. What they could do, and had done, was to fill all of Atlantis' drone ports with the newly manufactured drones, fill all the jumpers with both drones and pilots under Major Lorne's command and put Colonel Sheppard in Atlantis' command chair. The newly christened Orion was unfortunately still undergoing repairs and so was shut down for the encounter. She was able to go from one place to another, but she wasn't up for a fight yet.

"Two minutes and closing," Chuck said softly in the tension charged control room. Most of the command staff, Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne and Doctor Beckett being the major exceptions, was waiting near the conference room. They were all speaking in almost whispers if they had to speak at all. For once even Rodney was quiet. There was something about this type of situation that always held humans as still and silent as possible. Elizabeth idly wondered in the back of her mind if there were some type of racial memory of being helpless prey in all of them, because it wasn't just the Pegasus natives who were reacting like silent rabbits praying the wolf would pass them by.

"Hold your positions," Sheppard sent out. He could see everything Atlantis could see from the chair, and it was he, not Elizabeth, who was in charge at the moment. "We don't want to waste any of the nice new toys that Rodney's people made for us." Elizabeth could practically hear the smirk Sheppard was no doubt wearing on his face. If she hadn't known better she would have been furious over his casual attitude, but she did know better. She had been one of the few people who had actually heard him admit how many of the Genii he had killed when Koyla's men had invaded and how he had done it. Not all of the men killed that day had died by colliding with the gate shield; some had died from close up encounters with the then major. She had also seen the haunted look in his eyes more than once when they had lost someone, especially when it was the Wraith responsible. John Sheppard cared deeply for his people, and right now he was making sure that they heard a confident commander. Whatever his doubts or fears might be, he would always keep them to himself, unburdening them only with the members of his team and even then, only after everything was over and done with.

Chuck suddenly straightened up from where he had been hunched over the sensor panel. "They're slowing down. They've stopped just outside their sensor range," he reported, confused. None of the other hive ships that they had encountered had done anything like this.

"Are the radio frequencies all open?" Rodney demanded to know.

As usual, he was a few steps ahead of the rest of them. "Yes sir!" Chuck said smartly. He and the rest of those in the control room were now trying to hold down a slender hope. Michael had been sent off with a frequency code that he could use to contact them if needed. If this was his hive, there was a chance there would be no battle today. On the other hand, it was just as probable that Michael had been killed for daring to abandon Wraith custom and the information was now being used against Atlantis.

A few moments later the question was answered. The hive ship sent a signal in the general direction of the planet, making no sign of attempting to track down any receiver. "Atlantis, this is Michael, please respond."

Everyone breathed a short sigh of relief even as Sheppard answered. "Michael, this is Sheppard, how are you doing?" John had bounced the signal off of one of Atlantis' old sensor satellites further out in the planetary system so that if Michael was in trouble the hive wouldn't be aware of exactly where the city was located.

"I am well Colonel. If you could send me the designation for a safe location, my queen would like to meet with your people, especially Doctor Beckett." That wasn't what anyone had expected, even those who had the most optimistic attitude.

"Sure, sending coordinates now. Just make sure that you keep on the flight path I'm including, I don't want to have to blow your ship up," John warned. The flight plan would send the ship to the far side of the mainland, far enough away that they would not be able to see either the village or the city.

"Of course, we still have far to travel on the path to trust."

"You got that right," Chuck muttered. Then a little louder, "Transmission sent and the hive is still stationary, but I'm reading a smaller ship launching…. It's larger than a dart, but not by much…. Probable crew is four, not counting the queen if she's there at all…. It's following Colonel Sheppard's flight plan," he finished with an overly loud exhale of relief. The recon teams running into, and fighting with, the Wraith was one thing. Having the Wraith show up on Atlantis' front doorstep and having to fight them was another thing all together.

"Ok everyone, stand down from Red Alert but stay close to your stations. Crèche detail, stay in lock down. We still don't know just how this is going to fall out," ordered Sheppard.

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If there was a hand weapon to be had, it was in the hands of a McManus. Well, most of them were at any rate. There were more soldiers than shepherds in Atlantis, at a rate of ten to one, but pound for pound the clan outweighed the soldiers by a huge margin at the moment. They practically rattled they carried so many weapons. That was very reassuring to Carson Beckett.

They made him feel safe, these odd people from so close to his own home. No matter how passionately they went about their calling, which was so very opposite from his own, they never once made him feel as though they were anything but defenders of the innocent. He'd seen far too many fanatics in his lifetime to mistake one of those for anything less than the rabid dogs they were; a certain Genii commander being the most vivid memory. These people used their minds, and as the twins had proved on more than one occasion, there was a lot more to those minds than was first apparent. Which was why he felt perfectly safe standing behind two of them as they waited for the Wraith queen and her entourage to emerge from her ship.

The first one out of the ship was Michael, followed by another male. The second male looked around the clearing obviously, making it clear to all that he at least, was not too sure about these humans and their intentions towards his queen. While Michael greeted Sheppard and Elizabeth the hatch opened again, this time allowing two drones to emerge. This was excellent as it was perfectly normal, (at least for Pegasus as far as Carson was concerned because where else would you find space vampires who were willing to talk to their food?) because in this galaxy you never knew what was just around the next corner and normal was a highly prized state.

It was the emergence of the queen that changed that. The Wraith queen was the equivalent to sixteen human years old, in many ways still a child. Her mother must have sent her off before she reached puberty for her to be this age now as it had been some time since Michael had last been in Atlantis. Her mother should have waited a few more months before sending her off, at least if Carson had understood Michael's description of the Wraith life cycle correctly. They had known that Michael had come from a small, and therefore young, hive but this meant that something had to be drastically wrong. It just remained to be seen what that would be, and what that meant for Atlantis.

The drones fell in behind her as she approached Doctor Weir and Colonel Sheppard, and the second male did his best to keep himself between her and the armed humans. The queen stopped next to Michael, just out of reach of the Lantians, and gracefully bowed her head. "Doctor Weir, thank you for allowing this meeting."

"We're pleased to meet those who come in peace," Elizabeth said. Like all of the others who sat on Atlantis' council, she had studied everything that was known about the Wraith, from what Michael had told them to whatever the linguists had managed to get out of the database. It really wasn't enough. She could only hope that she would be able to correctly feel her way through this.

The queen tilted her head. "My mother would tell me that to meet in peace with humans is unthinkable, for they are nothing more than our food, but thanks to your people and the one you call Michael, I know that is not entirely correct. Michael's experience among your people has shown me that there are far more food sources for my hive than simply humans. Doctor Beckett's efforts to provide Michael with the information that he needed to have not only an alternate food source, but to ensure that it was healthy for him as well, has shown me that there is far more to humans than I was ever taught."

Elizabeth nodded. "There is much that we do not know about one another." She cocked her head, more in response to the queen's body language than anything else. "My people find such situations to be intriguing. Most of us are seekers of new knowledge, and few of us are interested in only finding out information on how to fight your people. We are interested in history, biology, culture, and not just about your people, but all the peoples of this galaxy. We are not so foolish as to think that such information is casually given however."

"No, it is not. However," the queen paused as the other male tensed. It was obvious that he was really not happy with the situation, but also that his objections had been overridden. She continued when he said nothing. "When you provided Michael with the information and released him to return to my hive, you had done something that you could never have understood or anticipated both because of your ignorance of my people and because of the uniqueness of this situation my people find themselves in."

The queen looked extremely grim. "Because my people have awakened from hibernation early, there are not enough humans to support all of the hives. The Wraith are facing starvation, and because of this have begun to fight amongst themselves. Your efforts have ensured the survival of my hive, and that is a great debt; one that must be repaid."


	37. Chapter 37

“Ok, so these two hives are probably going to be in as much competition with each other as they are allies on this trip,” Colonel Sheppard said, gesturing to the holographic star map he was using to brief everyone on the attack on the two hive ships who were attempting to travel to Earth and the Milky Way Galaxy. “Most of their numbers are going to be in hibernation, save for their queens and those males and drones necessary to collect enough Humans to eat on the journey. There are only a few ways for them to travel to reach Earth without entering another hive’s territory and they don’t want to waste the time and resources that would take. Thanks to that restriction, there are even fewer worlds that they can cull on their way out of this galaxy.”

Sheppard waved over at the group of scientists hanging out on one side of the war room. “Thanks to McKay and his people, we were able to pinpoint which worlds will be under attack and the most likely time for it to happen with the data that Eve brought us.” Eve was what he had named Michael’s queen. Personally he felt sorry for the girl. Being forced to take on the duties of an adult long before you were ready for them was something that should never happen to a child of any race.

“The Daedalus and the Orion will be making themselves very visible and knocking on the hives front doors when they show up to cull these two worlds. While the hives are busy dealing with the threat in front of them, two sets of puddlejumpers will be making their way into the hives for a sneak attack. Teyla, Ronon, one of you will be with each group. You are going in as the personal guard for the scientist with the nuke. Talk with Radek and find out the best places to put them. It’ll be your jobs to make sure that they get in there, plant the nukes and get out, hopefully in one piece. Make sure that you can attach and set off the nukes by yourself if the worst happens.” The look Sheppard shot them had them nodding in understanding. ART1 usually had something go wrong and they’d gotten into the habit of planning for the worst.

“Lorne, you’re in charge of the puddlejumper groups. Take as many ATA pilots as you can to get the mission done. You get first pick. Honestly, the idea of sending you into a hive with only one pilot makes me nervous so make sure that you have at least two pilots for each jumper.” Lorne nodded in understanding as well. The first mission against a hive ship had really made no tactical sense as it had been led by Sheppard who at the time had been Atlantis’ only pilot. That most of them had made it out alive had been a matter of luck, especially as Sheppard had gone against the hive’s queen alone.

Sheppard ignored the startled look that he received from Caldwell. “Conner, Murphy, the two of you will be manning the Orion’s equivalent to rail guns. If you can think of anything that might improve anything, run it by Radek. McKay will be too busy. He’s in charge of the engineers on the Orion and I’ll be the pilot. Radek, do remember who it is you’re talking to when the twins grab you with a new idea.” The soft laughter that ran around the room made the joke more than worth it.

“As for the rest of you, the duty posts will be posted as soon as Lorne has made his decisions. Remember, everyone in Atlantis is to check the duty roster. Just because you aren’t military does not mean that you are exempt from going. There are plenty of posts on the Orion for civilians,” Sheppard finished, nodding in the direction of the Pegasus natives in the crowd. There was more than one blood thirsty grin at the Colonel’s announcement. He would have no shortage of volunteers from that direction. “Dismissed,” he concluded.

John acknowledged Caldwell’s subtle request for a talk by leading him out onto the balcony for the briefing room. It was easy for them to get away because of the commotion made by the men and women all talking and trying to leave, those that weren’t trying to convince Lorne that they would be perfect for a jumper team. “I had thought that I was going to have to talk you out of leading the jumper teams yourself,” Caldwell told him.

John sighed. “Oh I want to. The trouble with that is that the Orion has to have a pilot with a high ATA gene percentage like most of the serious equipment around here, and those two are the ones that come closest to my percentage.” He pointed back into the room where Conner had Murphy in a headlock and was demanding that his twin acknowledge him as the older brother.

Caldwell visibly winced at the idea of either brother being the pilot for the largest, most powerful, and fully operational warship he’d ever seen. “Let’s see what we can do about avoiding that,” he agreed. “How did you get the Orion operational so quickly? The last I heard she wasn’t ready for battle yet.”

John smirked. “A matter of necessity, not a lot of sleep on McKay and Radek’s part, and believe it or not the curiosity of one very smart little boy. Jacob McManus found the drone manufacturing facility here on Atlantis. He told his mom that he was playing a game with the city lady.”

“Atlantis’ AI?” Caldwell asked. Every McManus had the ATA gene and at a high enough percentage that they almost were Ancients, at least as far as any Ancient machinery was concerned. It made sense that even the McManus children were able to talk to the elusive Atlantis AI. The expedition’s computer programmers still hadn’t been able to positively locate it, although every ATA positive in the city assured them that it was there.

John nodded. “Once the geeks had figured out that the facility was mostly operational, and McKay approved, we went looking for other places around Atlantis that might be related. We still haven’t found Rodney’s ZPM maker or the crystal grower, but we did find a collection of spare parts for the Orion and her sister ships. Once Atlantis figured out what we were looking for, she was very helpful in leading us right to it.” The Colonel was proud of his city to say the least, and it showed.

“What else did Eve tell you? I know that the information about these two ships wasn’t the only thing you talked about,” Caldwell asked. He was hoping that there was information that Sheppard could only give to a senior officer. There had to be something, some sort of minute piece of information that could eventually turn the tide of this war.

John smirked. “She gave Carson an Ancient Medical doohickey that her mother took from an Ancient hospital as a trophy during the war. It seems that those sorts of trophies are traded between queens as alliance gifts. Something taken directly from the Ancients as a war trophy, rather than say something that has been salvaged from a dead outpost like we’ve been trying to do, has the highest value. Eve was making her choice of allies very, very clear, and it wasn’t Elizabeth who was given the prize.”

Caldwell nodded. “So it is Doctor Beckett that they are allied with, and the rest of us are just part of his package. I’ve seen something like that before. You I like, but the rest of these guys I’m not too sure about.”

“Pretty much,” John agreed. “Right now Carson is beside himself between wondering just what it is that’s sitting on his desk, what he’s gotten himself into by accepting it, and how badly are his services going to be needed after this.”

Caldwell nodded. “There’s no way to avoid that. We’re going to take casualties.” The knowledge that not all of those casualties were going to be service men and women hung silent in the air between them. Civilian casualties were not something that any decent commander deemed acceptable. On the other hand, these people had been fighting the Wraith for far longer than most civilizations had existed on Earth. They had no right to tell the Pegasus natives that they could not stand with those from the SGC to strike back against their ancient foe.

Sheppard nodded somberly as well. For him it was both a lot simpler, and a lot harder than Caldwell could ever understand. These weren’t just his allies. These were his people. From the youngest child to the oldest elder, from the newest recruit to those who had been there when he’d first sat down in that damned chair in Antarctica, they were all his – his responsibility, his only real family. He had never truly felt at home until he had set foot in Atlantis and heard her quiet song drift just out of his range of hearing.

“I have a question,” Caldwell announced after a short silence. “Just out of sheer curiosity, and feel free to tell me to take a giant leap off of the central spire, but is there any way that you could be related to the McManus clan? I figure Beckett and General O’Neill probably are, somewhere far back simply because their ancestry comes from that part of the world, but how about you?” There had to be something about the fact that all of the highest ATA percentages came from the British Isles – O’Neill and the McManus’ from Ireland and Beckett from Scotland.

Sheppard looked slightly ill. It wasn’t the first time someone had made that observation, after all most of the ATAs had some Irish, Scottish, etc. in their background and honestly he had even joked about it before with the twins, but the truth was still something that he wasn’t very comfortable with. How did you tell someone that although your parents did not have such ties, there was a good chance that you did? On the other hand, Caldwell had done a lot for Atlantis lately and hadn’t asked for anything in return. “I don’t know. There’s a chance that I am related, but let’s just say that you wouldn’t be able to find it on any paperwork,” he quietly admitted.

Caldwell grimaced. That wasn’t something that he had been expecting to hear. Even in this day and age, being the child of an infidelity was still considered to be something shameful, although personally Caldwell thought that it was the parents who deserved the scorn rather than the child. Unfortunately from what he’d heard about Sheppard’s relationship with his father, he wasn’t in the majority there. “That’s too bad. There are a couple of geneticists who have been given a grant to track down as many ATA positives as they can going through the families of those who have already been identified.”

“Shit,” Sheppard cursed without any heat. “At least I’m not going to be on the same planet when that hits the fan.”

“You won’t even be in the same galaxy,” Caldwell pointed out, attempting to make up for sticking his foot in his mouth.

“He’ll find some way to let me know all about it, but at least it won’t be in person,” Sheppard told him. “Hell, it’s not my fault that he can’t have kids or that Mom decided to do something about that. All I know is that she picked up a guy in a bar overseas for me and slept with his brother for mine. She wasn’t planning on anyone finding out either. The only reason I found out was that she apologized in a letter that she left for me in her will.”

“Well if there is ever a place to find a McManus,” Caldwell joked, ignoring the far too personal information.

Sheppard nodded. That was true enough. “Well, I’ve got at least an hour before Lorne gets those recommendations to me. Want to try a shot of the twin’s latest batch?”

“Be glad to,” Caldwell said.


	38. Chapter 38

Lorne looked around his office at ART2. He was leaning up against his desk. Cadman was sitting in the open window. Parish was sitting in the only ‘guest’ chair and Sergeant Carver was leaning up against the wall next to the door. Aislin was standing in front of him, hands on her hips and glaring. They were going to be split up, something that normally would never take place, but this was a unique situation. “Aislin, you’re not under my command for this. You’re medical personnel and under Doctor Beckett’s command for major operations like this. The ART teams are for normal, exploratory and diplomatic missions, not for expected full scale combat.”

“I’m a McManus and a shepherd, Major Lorne,” Aislin growled in his face.

“I know,” he said quietly. “That’s why Doctor Beckett has assigned you to the Orion. You’re one of the very few ATA positives that we have in the medical department. In fact, your gene may mean life or death to an injured crewman.”

It was the solid certainty in his voice that shut down her protests. Doctor Beckett was good, there was no doubt about that, but his entire trauma experience came from his time here in Atlantis. What they were about to head into was going to be much worse and she knew it. She’d done her time in the trauma trenches during her time in London’s trauma unit. There was nothing like cleaning up after a gang war, bombing or a massive pile up to get you used to the sort of thing they were going to be facing, and even worse was the night she’d had all three come through her ER doors within a few short hours of each other.

“Promise me you’ll take the twins with you then,” she growled. She hated the idea that her team was going into danger without her.

“I was planning on it. I don’t care what the Colonel thinks; putting those two on the rail guns is not a good idea. They’ll freak out on being separated on either side of the Orion for such a long time. There’s going to be an awful lot of waiting before the fireworks start.”

“Either that, or they’ll start a competition on just who can shoot the most darts,” Cadman chimed in.

Parish began laughing at the idea, and Lorne just shook his head. Actually he thought that the Colonel was hoping that he would take the twins off his hands but John Sheppard wasn’t the sort of commanding officer to order his problem onto his 2IC. Considering what he had already told his team, he wasn’t opposed to taking the twins with him. He couldn’t see putting the twins through that sort of trauma when they were bound to have enough of that in every other aspect of this operation. At the very least, they were excellent pilots and even better shots.

“You’re not going with us either, Doctor Parish.” Lorne didn’t like having to lay down the law with his botanist, but there was no way in hell he was going to be taking his scientist into this.

“Oh I know,” Parish said easily. “I’m no use in heavy combat and I know it. I was lucky to make it through geek boot camp. Aislin and her people will have plenty of homegrown medicine to supplement their supplies. Unfortunately that’s all we botanists can do in this situation.”

“You can keep an eye on the kids,” Lorne pointed out. “We’re more than likely going to be taking more than a few of their regular caretakers with us.” As they were going to have to take as many ATAs with them as possible, both those who had the gene naturally and those who had taken the therapy to activate their recessive gene, Lorne wasn’t just talking to cheer Parish up.

“Cadman, you’re assigned to Teyla and her geek. I want you to make sure that you know several different places to put that nuke in case we can’t get to the primary site,” Lorne continued.

Cadman nodded, easily accepting the dangerous assignment. One thing that she liked about Lorne was that he was almost a Marine in his outlook. He had no problems with her being a woman or with putting her into dangerous situations that he wasn’t sure that he would be able to make it out of. It was too bad that he had to have gone and joined the Air Force. The Marines missed out on a good commander with him.

“Carver,” Lorne began.

“I watch everyone’s back,” the sergeant easily told his CO. He was comfortable with his position on the team. Someone had to take the rear guard and he was proud that he was often given the dangerous position. It was never more important than when they were headed into questionable or even better, territory that was known to be dangerous.

Lorne nodded before once more sweeping his office and his team with a look. “The Orion launches at 0800 tomorrow morning. Be ready, be careful, be safe. I’ll see you all back here when we’re done. I don’t want to see any empty positions the next time I see you lot.” Taking that as a dismissal, the four teammates left the office exchanging goodbyes and good wishes.

 

SGASAINTSSGASAINTSSGASAINTSSGASAINTSSGASAINTSSGA

Radek looked over the two teams of three that stood before him. Sergeants Cadman and Brant were the Marines that Major Lorne had ordered to join Teyla and Ronon in escorting the scientists assigned to place the two nukes that would turn the two Wraith Hive ships into so much space junk. Personally he was very glad to see that both Sheppard and Lorne were taking the safety of his scientists so seriously. Teyla and Ronon were the deadliest fighters Atlantis had hands down. Cadman and Brant were the most skilled explosives experts among the Marines assigned to Atlantis. None of them were strangers to this sort of mission.

On his part, Radek had asked for volunteers from among the scientists studying the Wraith technology with him. He was not surprised to see who had jumped at the chance to get into a real live ship, even if the job was to blow it into space dust. He’d been forced to choose the two who had passed the geek boot camp with the highest scores in fighting and shooting – the very courses that he’d failed so miserably.

Jason Lowell; a xeno-biologist now that there actually was alien biology to study, biologist, and veterinarian who helped out in the village with hunting and animal husbandry when he was wasn’t studying the Wraith technology. Radek had a suspicion that he was courting one of the Athosian women, but the large man was a gentleman to a fault and would never mention something like that until it was time to announce the marriage. Sarah Blake was a chemical engineer and head of the chemistry department, having taken over from Kavanagh when he was sent back to Earth. Radek didn’t know exactly what sort of experience she’d had in the past. She’d merely laughed at the question and said that she’d had radical friends. Radek assumed that was some type of cultural reference because it had gotten a grin out of the other Americans in the room.

“This is where the nuke must be placed for maximum destruction,” he said, showing the diagram that he’d created based on both his research and what they’d managed to retrieve from the Wraith computers. “Here, here and here are the second choice sites. They will not achieve the same amount of destruction of the hive, but will still render the entire ship into tablet sized pieces. If you are able to set off the nuke in any of these places, the Wraith and anyone else on board will not survive.”

Radek looked them all over carefully. They were solemn, but each met his eyes with determination. “I do not wish to learn that any of you were lost. Please, be very careful. You will have ten minutes to evacuate the hive once the countdown begins. It will take much longer for anyone to disarm the bombs, I promise you. There will be no stopping this once the timer is set. These are the ways that the device may be attached.”

 

SAINTSSGASAINTSSGASAINTSSGASAINTSSGASAINTS

Halling was one of the first people to get to the mission lists as they were posted by Elizabeth less than an hour after Sheppard had dismissed everyone from the briefing. He was not qualified, not by any means, to take any of the positions required for this mission, but he wanted to see for himself that what he had been told was true, and that the Earth born were not fighting this fight alone. He wanted, ( oh how he wanted!) for his people to be on the Orion helping to destroy their enemy.

His eyes found Teyla’s name and his heart almost burst with pride. She had been chosen to be one of those who carried their weapon into the heart of one of the Wraith hive ships. Two of their warriors had been given positions manning the Orion’s weapons, and three of those who had trained under Doctor Zelenka and the other teachers would be working in the Orion’s engine room. “Our people have done the Ancestors proud,” he told his son Jinto, who was standing at his side.

“One day I too, will be a Lantian soldier like Colonel Sheppard and I will help to defend our people,” Jinto promised as his father led him away so that others might read the lists.   
“It is not just the soldiers who are going to fight this battle,” Halling pointed out. “Not all of those people whose names are on there are warriors. It is the scientists, the doctors and the diplomats who have made all of this possible. Without any one of them, there would be no way to defeat the hives. Do not limit yourself so early my son. You have only taken the first step on your life’s journey. Lantian learning takes many years, but it gives you far greater choices than any other place of learning. I am pleased that you have chosen to take this path. You have always made me proud Jinto. Never forget that.”

“Even if I became a botanist?” Jinto asked, shuddering.

Halling chuckled, but wasn’t too happy. Jinto had been spending too much time with Doctor McKay for certain. He respected Doctor McKay, and knew that the man knew far more than he did about a great many things. That did not stop him from being a very rude person. How Teyla and the rest of her teammates put up with the man was more than Halling could grasp.

“Doctors Parish and Brown have both introduced us to and have created many new crops for our people to grow. Many are tasty, all are nutritious, and most are far easier to grow than many of the crops we had before. Some of these new crops have become valuable trade items. I even know of one world where their work has saved an entire people from starvation. If you were to become a botanist such as they are, I would be very proud of you Jinto. You would bring much honor to our people,” Halling told him.

“I still want to fight the Wraith,” Jinto said.

“Of course you do,” Halling said. “The Wraith are our greatest enemy, but you must remember that they are not our only one.” He stopped and turned them around to look back at the notice board. “Look Jinto, and see the honor of our allies. The Earth born could have simply taken the Orion and chased down the hive ships that threatened their homeworld with no help from anyone. They could have hoarded that fight for themselves as the Genii leaders once tried to do.

“Instead, they offer places in the fight for all who are able and wish to fight. Those who are not able, but still wish to fight they are willing to teach to do things that will help us to fight all of our enemies in ways that I cannot even begin to imagine. They even give this chance to those that others in our galaxy would spurn as traitors, such as the Genii who survived meeting the mila poppaaem. Learn your lessons from all of the Earth born well my son, so that one day you too can bring such honor to our family and our people.”


	39. Chapter 39

Major Lorne’s Puddlejumper 

Lorne had known that they would be waiting for a while, but he was glad that he had assigned Teyla, Gates, Hansen, and Reed to his jumper. With Lieutenant Miller as his copilot, he was having a pretty easy time of the wait, no doubt a lot easier than the team that had gotten stuck with the twins as their pilots. “Major, may I ask you a question?” Teyla asked him, coming into the cockpit and sitting down behind him.

“Sure, we’ve got nothing better to do while we wait,” Lorne said. He was running diagnostics on the cloaked jumper just for something to do. Miller was in the back exchanging stories with Gates, Hansen and Reed.

“Why have you split our team up into three parts?” Teyla asked, puzzled at the arrangement.

“Pure military paranoia,” Lorne said cheerfully. “This way we have enough room in the extra jumpers in case we can rescue anyone from the hive on the upside. On the downside, if McKay’s geeks are wrong or Eve’s intelligence is wrong, we have enough teams and nukes to take out three hives.” He nodded at the back where Teyla’s spare bomb was stored. Each person on the three man bomb teams had been given an extra nuke just in case.

That was something she understood. The Earth born, especially their military, did tend to try to plan for everything that could go wrong. “Well, I do have good news,” she told him. “Hetikiah has conceived and wishes to know if you are willing to take up second father’s duties. She understands if you are not able or interested, but she does not wish to keep you from taking up those duties if you wish them.”

“Second father?” Lorne asked, puzzled. He knew who Hetikiah was. Atlantis had traded with her people for food two months ago and she had asked him to trade for his seed. He had been amused at the time to find out that Lantian men were gaining a reputation for being especially virile. It sounded like his turn at the male seed trade had taken. Normally that would have been the end of it as the chances that he would go back to her world were small. His duties as the XO and team leader for ART2 would have interfered, but last week her world had been subject to a Wraith attack and over half of the population had been culled. Hetikiah was now living on the mainland with the Athosians.

“Hetikiah’s mate was not culled, but if he had been the child’s second father would have taken over helping to raise the child. A second father and mother are often selected to help lessen the chances a child will lose all of his or her caregivers to a culling. If the child shares a blood tie with someone who is not a parent, then that person is given the first choice of becoming a second parent. 

“Murphy will be a first father to my daughters and Conner will be their second father, but that is only because I do not have a mate at this time. If I take a mate in the future, then my mate would also serve as second father to my children. However, the chance that I will take a mate soon is very small,” Teyla said, holding up her own situation as an example. 

She did not mention the fact that it was extremely unlikely that she would ever take a mate with her Wraith blood being public knowledge. No one wanted her or those like her for a mate; although they were not condemned. The mila poppaaem had declared them to be good men and women and thanks to the Ancestors and the Earth born they were still able to provide their people with children without the taint of their enemies. In fact, Halling had even been politely hinting that if she were willing to provide her seed when the Ancient child machines were next available, he would like to make use of the machines to give his son Jinto a sibling or two. Jinto was an only child thanks to the Wraith culling Halling’s mate and Halling had no wish for his son to be his only contribution to their people. Her daughters would not have this problem. In fact, there were several men with young sons who were interested in whether or not she would allow a pre-betrothal between their child and hers. 

“Oh, I get it,” Lorne said. “We have something similar.” Teyla’s expression showed her surprise and Lorne laughed. “No, we don’t have anything as bad as the Wraith on Earth Teyla, but things can and do happen to parents. We call them godparents and they are often chosen when the child is born. Most often the godparents are someone close to the parents, like a best friend. For instance, I know that Radek is planning on asking Rodney to stand in as his baby’s godfather. It’s considered a great honor.”

“And would you be willing?” Teyla asked again.

“If I live through this, I would be honored,” Lorne said seriously. “To be honest, I’d been looking around for a woman that I could safely pass my ATA genes on with. I’m military and in a war zone. My chances of having a family of my own are slim to none, although they’ve gotten better since the twins moved to Atlantis, but to not pass the ATA genes on is practically a crime. Everyone in Pegasus needs to have those genes kept alive.”

Teyla smiled. “It is good to hear you say such things. Sometimes I fear that the Earth born do not realize just how much that you have the blood of the Ancestors means to those of us who are Pegasus born.”

“There’s no way we can know, but that doesn’t mean we don’t understand the fact that nothing built by the Ancients works without it.” He thought for a moment. “Teyla, do you think that they would object to having the baby in the infirmary? I know that some of the Athosian women are really adamant about having their children in the village, although they don’t turn down help from Beckett’s people,” Lorne said. 

“Is there a reason you would wish this?” Teyla asked.

Lorne shrugged. “It’s just…if the child does have my ATA gene, then I’d kind of like Atlantis to be there. She’s so excited about your twins, in a kind of ‘I’d thought it would never happen again’ kind of way. They’ll be the first ATA kids born in the city in 10,000 years.”

As long as Teyla had lived in the city, and as often as she had heard the ATA positives refer to the city as a female, she’d never really thought about the city as a person. It suddenly struck her just how lonely the city must have been, even though she had slept beneath the ocean for the years between the time the Ancestors’ departure and the expedition’s arrival. “I do believe that would be a very good thing, Evan. I will explain this to Hetikiah and her mate. You are a very good man to think of Atlantis at such a time.”

Lorne shrugged again, uncomfortable as many men were when such things were pointed out. He looked up as the jumper warned him and brought a HUD up with a thought. Ironically it looked like he’d been saved by the arrival of the hive ship they were waiting for. “Well, it looks like McKay and his people were right again. One hive ship, incoming, tell the others.” 

 

The Orion

Colonel Sheppard could barely feel the touch of the medic assigned to monitor him while he was plugged into the Orion’s systems. This was not like the connection he had to Atlantis when he sat in her control chair. Atlantis’ AI brought him into her systems with open arms and a joy that could only be described as ‘Welcome Home, I Missed You’. The Orion was much more abrupt, although he wasn’t unwelcoming; which when John thought about it made a great deal of sense. Atlantis was home. She was designed to be nurturing and to want to take care of her people. 

The Orion on the other hand, was a military machine and he reacted much more like one of John’s old flight instructors when the old man had gotten to lead one of the war games John had participated in under his command. The image of an old war horse, lifting his head eagerly at the sounds of battle flashed through his mind, and he could tell that the Orion agreed. The Orion was eager to get back into battle again against the enemy which the battleship had been built to destroy. John could even tell that the Orion was amused at the deception they were playing on the Wraith.

‘It’s a classic maneuver’, John thought at the Orion with the part of his brain that wasn’t being taken up with the battle he was directing, ‘and the reason that classic maneuvers are still around is because they work. One group is assigned to get in the face of the enemy while the second sneaks around behind to kick the enemy in the ass where he isn’t watching.’ Mostly John’s and the Orion’s job was to keep the hive’s attention on the Ancient ship in front of them, and that was something they were both more than willing to do. It felt really good to finally be bringing the battle to the enemy. 

That was actually fairly easy. The hive was throwing darts at them in such a way that gave John the impression that they were panicking. That was a good thing as far as he was concerned because it meant that they wouldn’t be looking for an attack from their rear - or even better from the inside of their own ship in this case. He hoped that this meant that Lorne’s people wouldn’t even meet any of the hive’s population on their way to plant the nukes, although he really didn’t believe that would happen. 

In the dozens of holographic screens that floated around the bridge, darts were shown exploding from the Orion’s rail guns, which launched a slightly different and much more explosive - at least when it encountered Wraith tech - type of drone, (the chemists had become particularly excited when that was discovered and it had launched an untold number of scientific debates that Rodney had been forced to referee with his pistol in one hand and his best snark on idiocy in the other. It had been a joy to watch.) and from the standard drones launched from the jumpers not assigned to the sneak attack mission.

Every puddlejumper that they had pilots for was being used on this mission, evenly split between the Orion and the Daedalus including the ones they had gotten from the buried city. In fact, the only ATA pilot that they had who wasn’t on the mission was the one who was in charge of manning the control chair in Atlantis should that be needed, and Sheppard desperately hoped that it wouldn’t because that pilot was Miko Dex.

Ronon had been very quiet about the danger to his family until Sheppard had told him what her assignment would be. The Pegasus native wasn’t about to protest his wife taking part in this operation simply because she was pregnant. That was not how things were done in Pegasus. No one who was able to fight was prevented from doing so because they simply could not afford to do so. That being said however, the relieved way that he had thanked John had told the Colonel just how much he hadn’t wanted Miko in danger.

“Lorne’s team has entered the hive,” John called out. The Orion’s sensors were able to pick up the shielded puddlejumpers, and now all they could do was wait for them to reappear. That was the only way that they would know when the nukes were about to go.


	40. Chapter 40

Hiveship

Eighteen adults was the maximum load a puddlejumper could carry. Assuming that none of the Lantians were killed in this operation, something that Lorne wasn’t counting on, each jumper could carry twelve rescued humans. Lorne was hoping that they would need every bit of space. Exiting the jumpers, Lorne motioned for Miller and Gates to find a location where they could guard the jumpers. They were the rearguard, making sure that any and all survivors would be able to get out of the hive.

Teyla, Cadman, and Doctor Black gathered together, securing their packs with the bombs before giving Lorne a nod each. Lorne gestured to Giles, Johnson, and Carver, who were going to go with the ladies as extra firepower and to guard their backs. They left the hive’s landing bay heading for their first choice location. That left ten people; seven Marines, two shepherds, and one Air Force Major. 

Those Lorne split into two teams of five people each, sending three with the twins and keeping the last four for his own team. The twins’ team would search one level where humans were stored for feeding. Lorne’s team would take the other. Heading out, Lorne was pleased that they had managed to split up and begin their tasks without making a sound. Bringing the twins along was looking more and more like the right choice. 

There were pitifully few humans in the cells waiting for the Wraith to eat them. Lorne was even checking the cocooned victims for life signs with the lsd from his vest out of sheer desperation to find someone still alive in this alien grown hell. They’d only found five even close to alive. One was so weak he had to be carried. Heartsick, Lorne began chivying the group back to the jumpers when two males and a group of drones discovered them. 

Lorne automatically took the rearguard, wishing for a moment that Carver was there with him and not guarding Cadman’s back. He stuffed the lsd back in his vest while firing his zat, only to find out that even weakened by starvation; it took more than two shots to kill a Wraith. He managed to kill most of the drones, but the males overpowered him and took the zat. ‘I’m going to have to get the twins to teach me how to shoot with both hands and hit what I aim at,’ was the slightly idiotic thought that ran through Lorne’s mind, as the Wraith dragged him off to feed to their queen.

Evan didn’t bother to struggle much once he was disarmed. His mission had changed and he would need all of his strength to complete it. He had to keep the queen busy until the nuke went off; hopefully before she ate him. He was sure that dying by being vaporized hurt a lot less than having the life drained out of you. He wasn’t someone who always had a smart ass remark on the tip of his tongue to piss the bad guys off, but he figured that stubborn could work just as well. 

Stubborn was something that Evan Lorne did very well. Once he’d dug in his proverbial heels over something, nothing moved him. That trait, along with his otherwise very easy going nature, good people skills, and excellence at doing his superior’s paperwork made him one of the best XO’s in the Air Force. The stubbornness and willingness to stand up for what was right rather than kowtowing to rank, along with his ATA gene, was what had gotten him exiled out here to Pegasus. There were times when he’d considered sending his last commanding officer a thank you letter; if only to piss the jackass off.

It was the sight of this queen’s trophy chamber that brought Lorne out of his mental wanderings. On display were things that he recognized; a puddlejumper’s dialing console, a life-sign-detector, a child’s nightlight, one or two things that he and Radek had discovered were best not mentioned in polite company, (although if the Marines found out about them he was sure that there would be a rush on Atlantis’ black market for them), and two ZPMs; and they were full. 

‘OH SHIT WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!’ Lorne was too distracted by the thought of the size of the explosion that two ZMPs would make when a nuke went off close enough to affect the power sources to notice that the nightlight was lighting up in reaction to his fear. The Wraith males however, were not. They yanked him through the trophy room quickly, throwing him down at the feet of their queen in the hive’s version of a command chair.

“What is the meaning of this?” she hissed, visibly unsettled. One of the males sent her a thought and she quickly backhanded him into a wall. “THEY ARE NOT THE ANCESTORS!” she screamed. She turned and pulled Lorne up from the floor. “Who are you?” she said, threatening to torture him to death with her eyes.

“Evan Lorne, Major, US Air Force, 748673581,” Lorne recited. His thoughts were still running around like hamsters on a wheel, and he was letting his training take over dealing with the Wraith. No matter what question the Wraith Queen asked, he answered with the same answer – name, rank, service, and number. 

Finally she’d had enough and backhanded Lorne to the floor, breaking his jaw in the process. “Since you are so unwilling to answer my questions, I’ll just have to go and get the answers myself,” she said with a hiss of frustration. She knelt down to put her hand on Lorne’s head and suddenly jerked it back as his mental voice screamed in her head – “WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!’ and the mental picture of the ZPMs exploding obscured every other thought that might have been there. “Stupid human,” she laughed. “They haven’t exploded in 10,000 years. They aren’t going to do so now.”

She turned to the male who hadn’t angered her. “The fool is terrified of my trophies and his impending death.”

“Perhaps we should put him out of his misery,” he said hungrily.

“Oh yes,” she agreed with a laugh. The thought of food had sufficiently distracted them that neither of the two, or the subdued male in the corner, heard the agitated whispers above their heads.

“He’s down. We’ve got to do it now,” Conner whispered vehemently.

“Tie it off tight!” Murphy said. Neither of them took their eyes off of Lorne lying on the floor between the two Wraith.

“I can’t believe you two are really doing this,” muttered Reed as he tied off one end of Conner’s rope.

“Oh don’t worry,” Conner said.

“We’ve done this before,” Murphy finished. Then both of the twins, tied back to back, dove off of the edge and fell down towards the Wraith and Lorne. 

Lorne saw the falling twins, and if he’d been able, would have dropped his jaw in shock. They were firing zats with both hands as they fell, hitting the two males and the queen over and over again until the Wraith finally fell to the floor dead before their bodies disintegrated. The rope finally jerked Conner and Murphy to a halt, twisting and turning right above Lorne. “Well what the fuck are you waiting for, a fucking engraved invitation?” Conner asked, laughing at the dumbstruck look on Lorne’s face.

“Just grab him and get the fuck back up here!” Reed tried to yell in a whisper.

Murphy slipped out of the knots holding him, summersaulting onto his feet on one side of Lorne. Conner landed on the other side. They both lifted Lorne to his feet. “I think the fucking bitch broke his jaw, Conner,” Murphy growled. “Let’s get the fuck out of here before the ladies blow this place back to hell.”

That broke the shock that Lorne had been in. He began struggling to get away from the twins. They let him go, thinking that he simply didn’t want them to hold him up, but the moment he was free he turned and ran. “SHIT!” the twins chorused, and took off after Lorne. 

Lorne had only gone into the next room, and they found him pulling what looked to them like a crystal sculpture down off of a pillar. He shoved it at Conner.

“What the fuck is this shit?” Murphy demanded to know. Lorne didn’t answer him, instead he grabbed the other crystal thing, turned and ran back for the rope.

“I don’t know,” Conner said as he and Murphy followed Lorne. “But from the looks of it, this thing is pretty damned important.” 

Murphy figured that Conner was right; especially when Reed began cursing up a storm when he saw the sculptures and didn’t stop even after he’d helped to get all three men and both crystal things back up on his level. From the tone of the cursing, he figured that these things were probably either very good news if they could get them back to Atlantis, or very bad news that they were here in this hive. He just prayed that they managed to get out of the hive with them intact.

Lorne wasn’t about to waste time. He simply grabbed up one of the ZPMs and began running as fast as he could for the jumpers. Conner picked up the second crystal and followed, knowing that Murphy was guarding his back. Reed was the last one of the group, held back mostly because he was using his air to curse instead of run. 

It didn’t take long for them to get a group of drones on their asses. The death of the queen had awakened the entire hive, and the four men were not making any attempt to hide. Stealth was no longer a priority. Getting the ZPMs out of the hive before it became so much space dust was. Their entrance into the hanger bay was a bit of a spectacle, should anyone have been stupid enough to be hanging around looking for entertainment. “Get out of the fucking way!” yelled Conner.

“They’re coming up behind us!” yelled Murphy. They were both ducking stunner blasts and Murphy was sending zat blasts back behind him, although not with his usual accuracy. He wasn’t used to running away from a fight. In fact the only reason that the twins were running at all was the sheer desperation on Lorne’s face when he’d handed over the crystal. That and the fact that Reed’s cursing had only let up enough to let them know that the funny looking things were more than merely important, not that they knew exactly what they were yet.

“Get to the jumpers!” yelled Lorne, in spite of the pain in his jaw. That pain was nearly enough to send him to his knees, but he only stumbled for a couple of paces before he was back to running full out. He could see Teyla being half carried by Doctor Black and Cadman. Carver was watching their backs. All of them reached the jumpers just ahead of Lorne. Lorne, the twins, and Reed didn’t bother to slow down, running right into their respective jumpers.

Lorne dumped his ZPM in the arms of one of the Marines. He didn’t check to see which one; just slid into the pilot’s chair and flew them out of the hive. “Is this what I think it is?” he heard as the jumper flew right out into the middle of the dog fight between jumper and dart.

“Miller to Orion, mission accomplished. We’ve got casualties, rescued humans, and a present for Doctor McKay,” Miller said in Spanish. The lesson that the twins had brought back from Chulaon had been well learned. No one spoke English, Latin or Ancient over open channels as anyone who was listening could probably understand those languages. All communications were made in Earth’s other languages, Spanish being the most frequent as it was the second most commonly spoken language.

That was what everyone had been waiting for. The jumpers broke off their attacks, turning tail and flying off in as many different directions as they could, most of them trying to get to the solar system and putting a planetary body between them and the expected explosion. Colonel Sheppard pulled the Orion out, but slowly so that the darts would be more likely to go after them than the jumpers.

Just as soon as the Orion had made a mostly safe distance away from the hive, it blew. Just as Radek had predicted, there was nothing more than dust left. The Wraith in the darts were overwhelmed by the sudden loss of so many of their kin, and became easy targets for the Orion’s rail guns. When the explosion finally dissipated, and the darts were all gone, Colonel Sheppard recalled all of the jumpers.

Lorne wasn’t surprised to see that his jumper was met with medics as well as Sheppard and McKay. Miller had said that they had casualties and a present for McKay, although Lorne was sure that the two men would have been here anyway to see that Teyla and the twins had made it back in one piece. As Lorne watched, the Lantians made certain that the medics took the rescued first, which made it easier for him to check and see if everyone that he’d taken out had made it back.

As far as Lorne could see, he’d only lost two men; Sergeant Giles and Corporal Johnson. Both of them had been with the ladies planting the bomb, easily the most dangerous task of the mission. Lorne was just grateful that they were the only ones killed. Teyla’s leg had looked broken. It was a compound fracture and she’d gotten yelled at by her teammates for trying to avoid the medbay. She was still insisting that she could wait even as Sheppard sent her off with the last gurney. Cadman was nursing her left arm and Carver had what looked like bruises over every visible surface, but they were here and alive. They’d even brought Doctor Black out with no injuries.

“Hey McKay, so what the fuck is this thing anyway?” Conner said. Everyone’s attention became riveted to McKay when the scientist made a strangled noise, and stayed there when they saw what Conner was casually waving about.

“zzzz….zzzzz…ZedPM,” McKay managed to get out. He took it away from Conner with reverent hands.

“Well no wonder Lorne wanted them the fuck out of there,” Murphy said. “Those things would have made one hell of a boom when the nuke went off.”

“Them? Things? What are you talking about?” Sheppard wanted to know. If Lorne could have grinned, he would have. Right now, coming down from the adrenaline rush, all he really wanted was Doctor Beckett or even better Aislin McManus and a lot of good drugs. But still, the look on McKay’s face as he walked over and handed the second, FULL, ZPM to Sheppard was worth it. 

Watching McKay fall over backwards in a dead faint, the first ZPM still clutched tightly to his chest, was even better.


	41. Chapter 41

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: The tale of the Wanderer is based both from Irish folk tales and an idea from Shadow – you know which one I mean. lol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: The tale of the Wanderer is based both from Irish folk tales and an idea from Shadow – you know which one I mean. lol

The Orion on its way to Atlantis

 

Rodney still couldn’t believe it. Lorne had found not one, but TWO ZedPMs in the Wraith hive ship that they’d destroyed. He’d never have believed that anyone getting captured and interrogated would be a good thing. However, the thought of the ZedPMs’ destruction under those conditions was horrifying. He had told Sheppard that Lorne deserved a medal for not being stupid even before Lorne had typed up his mission report.

“McKay, my XO is not stupid,” Sheppard said, exasperated that he’d brought up the subject again. 

“He’s short, military, paints landscapes, and he lets your goons know it. That right there puts a question mark on the subject of his intelligence,” Rodney pointed out. He’d been around a lot of goons in his years of working for the United States government, and he knew exactly what they would think about such a pastime. Plus, it wasn’t like he didn’t respect the man, he did because after all this was the guy who kept Sheppard out of trouble with the idiot generals back on Earth. 

Lorne just wasn’t the sharpest crayon in the box when it came to important things. If he was he would have listened to Rodney about the dangers of solar radiation on that planet where they found Ronon. The man had spent enough time at the SGC to learn to pay attention to the scientists when they say something is dangerous. As it was, Lorne and the rest had needed two weeks of treatments for radiation sickness. That the man had recognized – on his own - that the ZedPMs were that dangerous under those conditions deserved some sort of recognition.  
Sheppard looked up from the desk to where Rodney was leaning over his shoulder to read Lorne’s report. The man had been lucky that the medical team wasn’t working with Earth tech. Although his jaw had been immobilized so that the bone would heal, it wasn’t wired shut and would only take three weeks to heal instead of six to eight. So instead of making a verbal report, he’d simply quickly typed up a written one and sent it to Sheppard’s tablet. “Sometimes I really worry about your survival instincts,” John said, with an incredulous look on his face.

“What?” Rodney asked.

“You don’t tell a soldier who panicked while being interrogated that it was the right thing to do. You certainly don’t reward him for it in front of his men.” Sheppard ran his hands through his hair in frustration. The Orion had a nice office for its captain, but John was simply grateful that it was private. He and Rodney had taken it over, both so that they could have a place to organize reports and keep a ‘big picture’ eye on everything that happened in their maiden fight against a Wraith hive with the Orion, but also to read the reports of those who had gone into the hive itself. There was no telling what sort of intelligence had been picked up. “The military considers panicking a bad thing,” he said slowly.

“Well of course it’s a bad thing. You wouldn’t believe what happens when the morons I have down in the labs panic, but Lorne panicked at exactly the right time, for the right reasons, and it produced the perfect result. I’m just saying that for once he was smart enough to do everything right. You know that I do tell my minions when they’re doing things right, admittedly it isn’t very often though as they’re all idiots that I suspect found their degrees in a box of cracker jacks,” Rodney said, dismissing the scientists in his department.

“Rodney, what I’m going to do is pull him aside privately and tell him all of that. I’m just not going to do that in front of the men he’s supposed to be commanding,” John explained. “It’s like the difference between you pranking me in my quarters and pranking me in front of the Marines.” 

Rodney nodded, finally realizing that it was how Lorne was perceived by the Marines that was making John ignore his suggestion. “Right, right, Marines are morons.”

John sighed, and was about to shake his head and attempt to explain to Rodney that, no, their Marines were not morons and were actually very smart people who knew when to ignore the rules if it meant getting themselves and their people out alive, but instead a smile broke out on his face. Rodney gave a jealous huff. “She never greets me like that,” he complained.

Sheppard grinned as he got up from behind the desk. He knew he could trust Conner to fly from point A to point B, so that he could take a break from being in the command chair, but he would never let Conner try to land any ship the size of the Orion on Atlantis’ piers. That was just asking for trouble, and they had enough casualties at the moment. “I keep telling you Rodney, she likes you. It’s just that your mouse gene isn’t strong enough for her to tell you like she wants to. I’m sure that when she gets the ZMPs installed and has more power, she’ll tell you herself.”

“Two ZedPMs,” Rodney said dreamily once more as they walked to the Orion’s bridge. Sheppard snickered at him, but he didn’t care. “Shields, the ability to move the city, we might even have enough power to fly her, at the very least we’ll have the power to explore the rest of the city, maybe we’ll be able to find the repair centers and get them up and running,” Rodney listed, dreaming about what they’d be able to do.

“Better access to the data base?” Sheppard asked, as he took over the command chair from Conner.

“Oh please, what we need is a decent search engine. More power isn’t going to help us there,” Rodney said, disgusted once more with the Ancients.

“We told you, Rodney,” Conner said, as he stretched. “The Ancients thought like those pansy artsy fartsy types. It’s no wonder we can’t find fuck all in there.”

Rodney just ignored Conner. While it did make sense of why the database was such a mishmash, it really didn’t help. It also explained why the Ancients were so intelligent on one hand and so stupid on the other. After all, why would anyone want to be a glowy squid thing if they couldn’t do anything with the knowledge once they had it?

“Come on McKay. Let’s go see Teyla while we’ve got the chance. From the sounds of things, you’ll be busier than a one-eyed cat watching nine mouse holes once Sheppard lands us on Atlantis,” Conner told the scientist.

“You’re right. With two ZedPMs we are going to be extremely busy and I do need to make sure that Teyla’s going to be ok. I got chased off the last time I went down there. I mean, you’d think that after all these years working for the SGC and now with the ART teams, they’d be used to teammates wanting to know what was going on,” McKay groused as he and Conner headed down to the Medbay.

Conner laughed. He knew what McKay was really upset over was the fact that Murphy had been the one able to sit with Teyla after she’d gotten out of surgery while the three of them had other duties they’d had to attend to, although he’d been able to be there for a few minutes when she’d first come out of recovery. So he did his best to entertain Rodney while they made the trip down to the Medbay with stories of Doc and his regulars down at the pub. 

Murphy saw them from where he was sitting with a seemingly sleeping Teyla as they poked their heads around the corner of the outer ward. The outer ward was one of two large rooms filled with beds and medical equipment. This one was filled with those who’s injuries, while serious, weren’t immediately life threatening. “Coast is clear,” Murphy called softly. “They’re all in surgery or whatnot. Word of warning, Doc Beckett says she’s going to have to be in bed or a wheelchair for the next three weeks. That Ancient medical shit works fast, but it ain’t magic.”

Conner and McKay joined him next to Teyla’s bed. This ward was full of people with serious, but not life-threatening injuries. Major Lorne was in the bed next to Teyla, a bit put out that he had to stay until they got to Atlantis and a doctor had a chance to discharge him. He waved a hand at his friends and got a hand slapped on his shoulder from Conner and a stilted ‘Thank you for saving all of our lives, Major,’ from McKay. Lorne gave an embarrassed shrug in return.

“She’s going to love that,” Conner groaned in response to his brother’s report.

“At least we know that she’ll pay attention to what the doctor orders, unlike Sheppard,” McKay said, conveniently forgetting his own tendency to ignore doctor’s orders.

“We should get Teyla to help Ma with the kids. Ma’s going to be telling Irish fairy tales stories to the ones in the crèche classes. One of the teachers has had some of the adults, or the kids in the case of the ones who haven’t any adults left, legends from their homeworlds. The Genii were last week and our family is up next,” Conner said.

“Oh Ma’ll love that,” Murphy chuckled. He remembered some of the stories that his mother had told them as children. “She’ll be spinning granny tales for hours, doing her best to scare the shit outa the kids and anyone else who’s listening.”

“What sort of granny tales, because the kids in this galaxy don’t scare easily. About the only thing that scares them is the Wraith,” McKay pointed out.

“Oh, Saint Patrick and the snakes, changelings, leprechauns, banshee, Tir-na-n-Og, the Wanderers,” Murphy listed off. “Of course we figure the snakes in those old stories are the Goa’uld.”

McKay nodded. That made sense as a lot of the older myths and legends did deal with such aliens. “I recognized all but the last one.”

“You know fairy tales?” Conner asked, astonished that McKay would ever lower himself to such a pursuit.

McKay huffed in disgust. “I had to take a literature class for my undergrad and the idiot advisor I had put me in one on mythology. I hated every minute of it. I will admit that it has helped me out with knowing about the various aliens who have passed themselves off as deities though.”

“The Wanderer is a granny tale warning youngsters to beware the dangers of a pretty face,” Conner began

“My people have such stories as well,” Teyla said. After her teammates had bombarded her with questions of how she felt and her reassurances that she was fine, she continued. “I had not thought that your people had such tales; please tell me of this story.”

“Well,” Conner began, trying to figure out how to explain the Fae to her. “One of our people’s myths is what we call the Fair Folk, Fae or Sidhe. They’re not human, but they look beautiful beyond measure.”

“There’s two groups of Fae. One is evil, and their court is where all nightmares are born, and the other is…well, not exactly good, but they’re not truly evil either,” Murphy said.

The two men didn’t notice that the patients who were awake around them were listening right along with Teyla and Rodney. “Now the tale of the Wanderers is about the group that is more selfish than evil. They simply don’t see our problems or our lives as being very important. Basically a youngster in their teens or twenties will meet a beautiful stranger and be invited to spend the night at a party, and the one being invited is to be the entertainment. The Fae will offer anything to the young idiot to get the lad to agree. Of course the boy does agree because without that we’d have no story,” said Conner with a grin.

“So the lad goes off underhill to have a bit of fun. Now underhill is the place where the Fae live and it’s kind of like another dimension. The most important thing to remember about it is that the rules aren’t the same there. The Fair Folk, of all kinds, are creatures of magic,” Murphy said. McKay snorted but everyone ignored him. 

“At some point the lad realizes that he’s been there for a long time and he needs to be getting back on home. This makes the Fae fucking mad and they throw the lad out and back where they got him,” said Conner.

“But, they take revenge on the boy for ruining their party,” Murphy warned. “He doesn’t just go back where they got him without punishment. They take all of his clothes out of spite and they take all of his memories away so that no one will know how to get to underhill. Plus, Fae are immortal and time itself doesn’t run the same way underhill that it does on Earth. The lad wakes up to find that anywhere from years to centuries have passed while he was underhill. He’s lost everything just because he wanted to party with a pretty face.”

“Hey that’s what happened to Jackson!” one of the other patients cried out. He shrank down on himself for a minute as everyone turned to stare at him. “Well – naked, amnesia, and knowing that he’d been somewhere but that he’d been kicked out because he broke the rules….” he trailed off with a shrug.

“That would explain why our gene is so much stronger than anyone else,” Conner said to Murphy.

“Aye, but that still doesn’t explain Sheppard,” he said in response.

“No one can explain Sheppard,” McKay told them. “And what do you mean that it explains your gene?”

“Our gran, Da’s ma, was a Wanderer,” Conner said.


	42. Chapter 42

ATLANTIS

 

Being a diplomat hadn’t prepared Elizabeth for the unfortunate necessity of delivering death notifications. After her arrival in Atlantis, it had become an all too frequent duty. The Daedalus had arrived, mostly in one piece, a few hours before and her casualties, both injured and KIA accounted for just before this particular message had arrived in the form of Paul ‘Disaster’ Davis. At one time she would have objected to the nickname, however today she found it all too appropriate as she watch the Orion gently land in her berth on the North West pier.

“How soon can Colonel Sheppard be ready to go?” Davis fussed, glancing at his watch.

“He’s not going alone. I’m sending his team, and Doctors’ Dex and Beckett as well. I’m not sending him into this situation without backup,” Elizabeth glared. John simply did not talk about his family, something that Elizabeth had found very glaring in the close knit community of Atlantis. Everyone knew a great deal about those the Earthborn had left behind, as messages, packages and letters from home were shared throughout the city. Among the Pegasus born news of distant family was shared with all as a matter of necessity, to keep the information alive in the face of Wraith cullings. Eventually even the most recalcitrant of the Atlantis expedition, (Rodney), had admitted to having a sister that he was estranged from. As John had never mentioned any family, most assumed that he was the only member of his family left, an all too frequent occurrence in Pegasus. Elizabeth had been the only one to know otherwise, and that was only because she was the one who updated his personnel file. She worried now about how this news was going to affect him.

Davis sighed. “That’s fine, Doctor Weir, but the funeral is in two hours and the colonel has to be there.”

“Most of the arrangements on our end have already been made. John’s dress uniform, and suitable clothing for the others, is already waiting in the infirmary. The Orion looks intact, so with any luck all they’ll have to do is a quick checkup and to change clothes. I can get reports from Lorne,” Elizabeth said, attempting to calm down. Her hormones had her either snapping at everyone or bawling her head off today, and at the moment while she preferred the snapping, it wasn’t fair to Davis. He was only doing his job.

As she had expected John and Rodney came in right behind the wounded. What she hadn’t expected was to see them carrying two ZPMs. For a split second she froze in indecision. How could she deny Rodney the chance to install them? The first few hours after installation were going to be incredible. The answer was of course that she couldn’t. All she could do was give him the facts and let him decide for himself. Fortunately she wouldn’t have to be the one to call Radek as Rodney was already yelling for her husband to meet him in the gate team’s checkup room. It had become convenient at times like this for the gate teams to have a small room set aside so that their checkups did not get in the way of treating the wounded. Usually the wounded were refugees that the team had rescued. Today it was their own who were hurt, but the room would still be put to good use, getting the non-wounded through the required health checks quickly. She hurried behind the group as they did their best to get to the room in record time.

Ronon and Miko were already on their way and managed to get to the checkup room ahead of Radek. The sight of Ronon, with his left arm in a sling, dressed in an Earth style black suit, and Miko dressed in formal Japanese funeral clothing, or at least as closely as the Athosians had been able to make for her, brought a sharp reaction from Sheppard. “Who’d we lose?” Rodney stood beside the tense Sheppard, clutching the ZPM in his arms, his face pale, and it was clear that for a moment he had forgotten what he held.

“I’m sorry, John, but it’s your father,” Elizabeth told him gently. “The funeral is in two hours. Colonel Davis is here to make sure that you get there in time. You’ll ‘gate directly to the SGC, get that side’s health checks, beam up to the Apollo, and from there to the funeral.”

“We’ve got your uniform, Sheppard, and mourning clothes for the others,” Ronon said.

“Thanks,” John said faintly.

That seemed to jolt Rodney out of his surprise, and he began issuing orders. “Radek!” he yelled, calling for his second once more as he gently set his ZedPM down on a gurney. “Miko, help Teyla with her clothes. She’s got a broken leg.” She gave him a short bow, and hurried over to Teyla with a bundle of clothing. “Meet us in the gate room in ten minutes, and make sure that she’s got a wheelchair!” Rodney shouted at the women’s backs, as Miko helped Teyla over to a curtained changing area.

“Here, Rodney,” Radek said, entering the infirmary. He stopped dead at the sight of the two Ancient devices. 

“Radek, take these and check them out,” Rodney said, gently taking the second ZPM from Sheppard and giving it to Radek. “If they’re good, install them. Do NOT let any of the morons destroy the city simply because we now have power. No exploration until we get back. You are installing the ZedPMs in case of emergency only. That means Wraith attack or other similar situation and don’t let the idiots convince you otherwise.” 

Radek nodded, accepting his orders. With two full ZPMs they would be able to bring Atlantis’ defenses on line. Bringing the drone manufacturing plant up to full capacity instead of the tiny trickle it was working at now, and being able to raise the city’s shields to protect the noncombatants, those would be the answers to Radek’s prayers, and he did not doubt, the prayers of every parent or parent-to-be in Atlantis.

“Ronon, help Sheppard into his uniform. He can put one on three quarters dead on his feet so just get him started,” Rodney ordered, noticing that Ronon and Sheppard were just standing there. The twins were getting the short version of the health check while changing, and Rodney began to strip his own uniform off. “Radek, I mean it. No exploring anything because the goon squads need some downtime after taking out that hive. There will be NO relaxing of proper protocols and if they don’t like it, they can take it up with me when I get back. They can wait 48 hours.” Rodney managed to get the lower half of his suit on, and turned to check the team. As he had suspected, he was the furthest behind in getting dressed. “Let’s go! We need to be in the ‘gate room in five!”

The majority of Radek’s attention was on the two ZPMs. He knew that the only reason that Rodney was entrusting them to him was because Colonel Sheppard needed Rodney to take charge of the situation. Mr. Sheppard would not be having an Irish wake, and Radek seriously doubted that either of the twins had ever been to a high class funeral – caused more than a few certainly – but not attending as guests. The others, (Teyla, Ronon, Miko and Doctor Beckett) would not be able to help the colonel any more than the twins. As Rodney hurried his teammates out of the infirmary, (Colonel Davis was trailing after them like a puppy, Radek noted) while attempting to button up a dress shirt, jacket and tie hanging from one arm, Radek sent up a prayer for the colonel before completely focusing his attention on what he held. Now the work could truly begin.

 

Earth

 

Dave Sheppard sat in the front row in the chapel of his family’s church, right in front of Patrick Sheppard’s coffin. He was still stunned by the turn of events of the last week. That John had caused an uproar in the family was nothing new, but this time it had spread beyond the immediate family, and it had caused their father’s death. What made things even worse, (for a case could be made that John hadn’t known what the results of his actions would be) Dave knew that his brother wouldn’t bother to show up for the funeral. The gossips would have a field day with the three empty seats next to him – the ones reserved for John and any guests he might have brought.

Just when Dave was about to assign his older brother to a special place in hell, the door to the chapel opened, and a wave of surprised whispers flooded the room. When the tall, uniformed shape sat down next to him, Dave gave a silent sigh of relief. “I thought that you weren’t going to be here,” he said quietly. ‘Like you weren’t last time’ remained unspoken, but Dave was sure that John heard it anyway.

“I’ve got a better CO this time,” John said. “He knows that I was deliberately not told about Mom’s death until three weeks after the fact. When he heard about Dad, he made sure that I was told right after the mission I was on was over and the communications black out was lifted. As soon as my team got back to base, we were hustled through health checks and then thrown on a transport so I could be here on time. He even sent the base doc with us in case the health checks missed something.”

Dave shot his brother a startled look. He hadn’t known that John hadn’t known their mother had died until so much time had passed, but had to admit that their father had been so pissed off that he very likely hadn’t let John explain when John finally had gotten a chance to call home. That glance took in the two men in dark suits sitting next to John, and the obvious injuries they had. The young man with dreadlocks had a broken arm in a sling, and sported several bruises on his face. The man with receding hair between dreadlocks and John had a small bandaged cut on his forehead and several angry looking burns on his cheek and hands. John’s face was clear of any injury, but he had several smaller burns on the backs of his hands. Who knew what sort of injuries their clothes hid?

Dave turned to look over his shoulder, intending to see if he could spot the doctor that John had mentioned and get the real information on just how badly his idiot brother had gotten himself and his people hurt. What he saw was even more startling than his brother showing up. There was only one man in uniform in the back row and he was sitting next to two women; one a Japanese lady in an exotic version of formal funeral clothing, (Dave had gone to Japan with a group from Sheppard Industries a few years ago and had attended a funeral for a business associate), and the other, an exotic beauty in a stunning black dress that someone had beaten – and from the wheelchair she was in, Dave knew that her injuries were serious indeed. 

When Dave turned back to the front, he knew that John could see the anger he was holding in at the thought of anyone harming the poor woman. The smirk that John flashed him told Dave everything that he needed to know. Whoever it was that had hurt the woman would never be able to do so again – and John at least, counted any injuries his team had received to be well worth the price of rescuing her. “I’ll introduce you at the wake,” John promised. Dave nodded and settled back down in his seat. This once, he could see that John’s tendency to risk his life had produced a positive result. Now, if he could just get through the funeral and the wake without killing John for his role in all of this, he’d count himself lucky.


End file.
